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! ■ ^^ 

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THE GARDEN. 



HAJSTD-BOOKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR. 



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RURAL HAA'^D-BOOKS.—JVo. I ' 

THE ^G A E D E K ! ^ 

A POCKET MANUAL •^' /S. 

OR, HOW TO CULTIVATE 

YEGETABLES, FEUITS, AND FLOWEES. 

EMBRACING 

AN EXPOSITION OF THE NATUEB AND ACTION OP SOILS AND MANTTRE3 AND THE 
STEUOTXJRE AND GEOWTH OF PLANTS ; DIRECTIONS FOR THE FORMING A 
GARDEN ; DESCRIPTION OF IMPLEMENTS AND FIXTURES ; INSTRUC- 
TIONS FOR SOWING, TRANSPLANTING, BUIXDING, GRAFTING, AND 
CULTIVATING VEGETABLES, FRUITS, AND FLOWERS : 



WITH A CHAPTER ON 



BY THE AUTHOR OF 

" HOW TO WEITE," " HOW TO BEHAVE," Etc. 

Oarrlening was the primitive employment of the first man; and the ft.rgt of men, among hid 
fiesi^endauts, have ever been attaclied to that occupation. Indeed, wg owslT B fl fdly form an idea 
of liuman felicity, in which a garden is not one of its most prpdSwent characteriBtics. ^T. G. 

Pessejjdek. >v> ' "^: 




Fowler and ^Wells, Publishers, 

No. 308 BROADWAY. 
1858. 



ENTERED, ACCORDING TO ACT OF CONGRESS, IN THE YEAR 1858, BY 

FOWLER AND WELLS, 

IN THE clerk's OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE tTNITED 
STATES FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW TORE. 






'b 



Davies and Egberts, Stereotj-pers. 
113 Nassau Street, New York. 



"1 

-'S 



PREFACE 



There are many excellent works on Gardening in the English 
language ; but there seemed to be room and a demand for 
another. No other work fills just the place that this is intended 
to fill — no other quite meets the popular want which we have 
aimed to satisfy in this. 

We saw the need of a small, cheap work, embracing not only 
brief, simple, and easily understood directions for the cultivation 
of vegetables, fruits, and flowers, but also a succinct exposition 
of the theory of horticulture, as deduced from the nature of 
soils and manures, and the laws of vegetable life and growth ; 
to give the reader something to fall back upon, whenever the 
practical instructions, which can not be adapted to every change 
of circumstances, shall fail to furnish a suf&cient guide. How 
well we have succeeded in meeting this need we leave the reader 
to judge. We will only say, that our little book has been care- 
fully prepared, and combines the results of experience, observa- 
tion, and study. In preparing it, we have aimed simply at use- 
fulness, and have made no effort for the attainment of any 
further originality than the end in view required. We are neces- 
sarily placed under heavy obligations to our predecessors in the 
walks of horticultural literature ; but what we have derived from 
them has, in most cases, been re-written, and so modified, to 
adapt it to our purpose, that formal credit has, except in a few 



Yi Preface. 

instances, been impracticable. Among the numerous works con- 
sulted, we take pleasure in acknowledging our indebtedness for 
valuable aid to each and all of the following : 

^'Loudon's Encyclopedia of Gardening. 
^'■Mrs. Loudon's Gardening for Ladies 

Delamer's Kitchen Garden. 
" Flower Garden. 

Neill's Gardener's Companion. 
*''Buist's Family Kitchen Gardener. 

Fessenden's American Kitchen Gardener. 

Every Lady Her Own Flower Gardener. 

Barry's Fruit Garden. 
'-'Downing 's Fruits and Fruit-Trees. 
«-Jaques' Fruits and Fruit-Trees. 

Tucker's Annual Kegister. 

Farm and Garden Essays. 

Thorburn's Descriptive Catalogues. 
^White's Gardening for the South. 

Horticulturist. 

Country Gentleman. 
^''Southern Cultivator. 

Allen's American Farm Book. 

Boussingault's Economic Rurale. 

Downing' s Landscape Gardening. 
^Lindley's Theory of Horticulture. 

Gray's Botanical Text-Book. 
^Darby's Botany of the Southern States. 

To the works marked thus ('■'■) we are under special obligations, 
either for matter derived from them, or for valuable facts or sug- 
gestions made more indirectly available. 

Trusting that this little manual will be found worthy of a 
measure of the favor with which his previous humble attempts 
at usefulness has been received, the author now submits it to the 
judgment of the great Public. 



CONTENTS 



INTRODUCTION. 

The Gardenof Eden— History of Gardening— Attractions— No Fruits like Our 
Own— Gardening favorable to Health — The Science of Horticulture — Object 
of this Work— How to Use it , Page 9-11 

I.— STRUCTURE AND GROWTH OF PLANTS. 

Germination— Conditions Essential to Germination— Time Eequired— The 
Process— The Eoot— How Eoots Grow— Functions of the Eoot— Kinds 
of Eoots— The Stem-Structure— Uses— Leaves— Structure and Functions- 
Flowers and their Structure— Fruit— Growth and Eipening— The Food of 
Plants— State in which it must be Taken up— Conditions Essential to Growth 
—Warmth, Moisture, Food, Air, Light 13-29 

II.— SOILS AND MANURES. 

Classification of Soils— Heavy Soils— Light Soils — Loamy Soils— Calcareous 
Soils— Marley Soils— Vegetable Mold— Alluvial Soils— Subsoils— Improve- 
ment of Soils— Manures— Theory of Manures— Composts 30-40 

in.— FORMATION OF A GARDEN. 

Situation— Exposure— Size and Shape— Laying Out— Fencing— Hedges— Prep- 
aration of the Soil — Draining — Trenching — Subsoil Plowing 41-45 

IV.— IMPLEMENTS AND FIXTURES. 

The Various Implements Eequired— Care of Implements— Fixtures— The 
Walled Pit— Hoi Beds— Trellises— Eustic Structures 46-50 

v.— HORTICULTURAL PROCESSES. 

Stirring the Soil— Applying Manures— Forcing— Sowing Seeds— Transplanting 
—Watering— Hoeing— Protection from Frost- Mulching— Destroying In- 
eects— Saving Seeds — Eotation of Crops — Propagation— Suckers — Layers — 
Cuttings— Slips— Budding- Grafting - Pruning— Training 51-72 



viii Contents. 



VI.— THE KITCHEN GARDEN. 

Esculent Eoots— The Legumes -The Cabbage Family— Spinaceous Plants— 
Asparaginous Plants— Esculent Bulbs— Salad Plants— The Cucumber Family 
—The Pumpkin Family— Miscellaneous— Sweet Herbs 73-110 

Vn.-^THE FRUIT GARDEN. 

The Apple— Origin— Varieties— Difficulty of Selecting— List of Summer Ap- 
ples—Autumn Apples— Winter Apples— Crab Apples— Culture— Gathering 
and Preserving— The Pear— Lists of Pears— The Quince— Varieties— The 
Peach, with Lists of Varieties— The Nectarine— The Apricot— The Cherry— 
The Olive— The Orange— The Lemon— The Grape— The Currant— The 
Gooseberry— The Raspberry- The Blackberry— The Strawberry— The Fig— 
The Pomegranate— The Mulberry 111-142 

Vm.— THE FLOWER GARDEN. 

Uses of Flowers— A "Word to the Ladies— How to become Healthy and Strong 
-Implements for Ladles' Use— Laying Out a Flower Garden— Arrangement 
of Plants— Climbing Plants — Shrubs and Trees— General Directions— Lists 
of Flowering Plants and Shrubs— Hardy Annuals— Hardy Biennials— Hardy 
Perennials— Tuberous Eooted Plants— Bulbous Eooted Plants— Flowering 
Shrubs— Climbers and Creepers 143-156 

IX.— ORNAMENTAL TREES AND SHRUBS. 

General Hints— Picturesqueness— Pruning— American Trees— Transplanting 
— Lists of Trees— Large Trees — Deciduous and Evergreen — Small Trees and 
Shrubs- Hedge Plants 15T-161 

APPENDIX. 

The Bearing Tear— Cause of Diminished Fertility— Removing Large Trees- 
New Varieties of the Potato— Luxuries of a Fruit Garden— Hyacinths in 
-Roses for Pot-Culture 162-164 



INTRODUCTION. 



It is written that God placed the first man in a garden to dress 
and to keep it ; and that woman was there created as a help 
meet for him. That garden was the primitive paradise ; and to 
this day, a tastefully planned, judiciously planted, and well-kept 
garden has, still lingering about it, many of the charms we are 
wont to attribute to the original Eden. To the true lover of rural 
life it seems, in the fullness of its summer beauty, to be indeed 
almost a Paradise Eegained. 

Gardens are frequently mentioned in ancient writings, both 
sacred and profane, but little is told us either of their productions 
or their cultivation. 

At the close of the Roman commonwealth the catalogue of 
cultivated fruits had become considerable, and the principles of 
pruning and grafting were understood and practiced. With the 
decline of the empire, horticulture, in common with other useful 
arts, seems to have declined, and to have revived only when 
learning arose from the slumber of the dark ages. Since that 
time, it has kept pace with the general improvement of society. 
England, France, and Belgium have taken the lead in modern 
horticultural progress. The United States will not long remain 
behind. 

It woulcl be interesting to trace, at considerable length, the 
1* 



X Introduction. 

history of gardening, and show how, both as an art and as a science, 
it has been perfected, step by step, by means of study, observation, 
and experiment ; but our limits will not permit this course, and 
we must refer the inquiring reader to " Loudon's Encyclopedia of 
Gardening," the most thorough and complete work on the sub- 
ject in the English language. It is, however, too large and 
expensive to be generally accessible, except in public libraries. 

Gardening, the earliest employment of man, is also the most 
attractive. It is Emerson, we think, who says, that after work- 
ing in one's garden, nothing else seems worth doing. Here we 
seem to come into close communion with Nature, and to co- 
operate with her in adorning and enriching the earth. To plant 
one's seeds, to await hopefully their germination, to watch the 
daily development of the tender plant, to protect it from the 
encroachments of weeds and the attacks of insects, to loosen the 
soil around it, to care for it, w^atch over it, and rejoice in its 
growth and fruitage, and finally to enjoy the fruits of one's labors 
in the ripened harvest — what mere sensuous pleasure can be 
greater? The market affords no such pears, apples, peaches, or 
plums as grow on the trees we have with our own hands grafted 
and pruned. Our own squashes and melons are sweeter than any 
that our money could buy ; and no potatoes, or cabbages, or 
turnips are like ours ! 

And health flows to us from the garden in two broad streams. 
One has its source in the invigorating out-door exercise it calls for 
and renders so delightful, and the other in the wholesome food 
which it furnishes to take the place of much less desirable ali- 
ments which would otherwise be supplied by the butcher and the 
grocer. 

A taste for horticulture is almost universal in this country, and, 
as land is abundant and cheap, and the facilities for obtaining it 
great, very few outside of our cities and large towns are debarred 
from gratifying it, to a greater or less extent. 



Intkoduction. XI 

But a knowledge of the science of horticulture is far from being 
co-extensive with the practice of the art, and a truly satisfactory- 
degree of success is only occasionally attained. A rich soil and a 
genial climate conspire to render the rudest and most empirical 
cultivation, under favorable circumstances, moderately produc- 
tive. Plodding industry, however blindly applied, is looked upon 
with favor by all-loving Nature ; but her richest gifts are reserved 
for united science and skill. In the cultivation of the earth, as 
in every other department of human effort, " knowledge is 
power." 

To increase and extend a knowledge of the theory and practice 
of gardening is the object of the following pages, in which we 
have given due attention to both branches of the subject. The 
former is almost entirely ignored in most popular works on hor- 
ticulture ; they being nearly restricted to details of practice. 
These, though highly useful and even essential to the novice, are 
liable to lead him frequently astray, unless he is guided in their 
application by a knowledge of the principles on which they are 
founded. 

The theoretical part of our work is necessarily brief, but will be 
found a useful auxiliary to the practical directions which follow. 
Carefully studied, thoroughly mastered, and constantly applied, 
it will be of more value to the reader than a heavy volume imper- 
fectly understood and confusedly remembered. We would by no 
means, however, discourage those who have the leisure and dis- 
position from pursuing the subject further. 



NOTICE TO THE READER, 



In making use of tlie practical directions given in this work, 
the reader should bear in mind that it was written in southern 
New York, and that where no other place or latitude is men- 
tioned, in designating the time for planting seeds, etc. , about 40° 
K., with a very slight elevation above the sea, is to be under- 
stood. Allowance must be made for situation north or south of 
this, and also for elevation of site, soil, aspect, exposure, and the 
general character of the season. 

Our directions must also, of necessity, be subject to many- 
modifications, in other respects, by soil, situation, and climate ; 
but if the reader will study the general principles of horticulture, 
even in our brief and imperfect exposition of them, in the first 
part of this work, and exercise a little sound judgment, he will 
readily overcome the obstacles presented by local and temporary 
circumstances. 

In giving the names of the varieties of fruits, we have followed 
Downing, as the best American authority ; although he occasion- 
ally differs from the American Pomological Society. 



THE GARDEN 



STRUCTURE AND GROWTH OP PLANTS. 



With what Increased satisfaction are the common proeesses of manuring or transplanting 
carried on, to say nothing of the more delicate operatlonsof budding, grafting, and propagating 
by layers, etc., when we are acquainted with the structure of the plants we are endeavoring to 
control, nd comprehend the why and the wherefore of every step we pursue. — A. J, Dcwning, 

L-GEEMINATIOIf. 

VERY perfect and matured seed contains the 
germ of a new plant of the species to which 
it owes its own existence. If you separate 
the two lobes of a bean, or other seed of a 
similar character, you will discover, pressed 
between them at the undivided or stem end, 
or side, a minute kernel or bud. This, though a 
L ^eg mere point, as it were, contains the rudiments of two 
1 ^^ or more undeveloped leaves, united by a solid or undi- 
' ^ ^ vided portion, called, in the language of botany, the 
radicle^ and constitutes an embryo plant, holding within 
itself all the elements of vegetable life. The commencement 
of the vital action which produces the development of this 
embryo is called germination. 

The conditions essential to germination are the presence of 
moisture^ warmth^ and oxygen gas. 

In the absence of moisture, no effect toward germination is 
produced by the presence of warmth and oxygen, or any other 
gas. Moisture and oxygen gas, without warmth, are equally 




14 



The Garden. 



inefficacions ; j,iid so are moisture and warmth in tlie absence of 
the oxygen ; for seeds will not germinate in a vacuum, nor in 
distilled or recently boiled water. 

Moisture is necessary to soften and expand the various parts, 
to dissolve soluble matter, and to estabUsh a sort of circulation. 
The embryo seems also to have the power of decomposing 
water; and it is probable that a portion of the oxygen required 
is obtained in this way. The rest must come from the air; for 
it is found that a communication with the atmosphere is abso- 
lutely essential to perfect germination. The effect of heat ap- 
pears to be to set the vital principle in action, to expand the 
air in the numerous microscopic cavities of the seed, and to 
produce distension of all the organic parts. The degree of 
heat required varies with different species. The common 
chickweed will germinate at a temperature but little above the 
freezing-point, while the seeds of many tropical plants require 
a heat of from 90° to llQo (Fahrenheit) to call them into 
action. Wheat, rye, and barley will germinate at 44°. A 

degree of heat vary- 
ing from 1130 to 
167^ is capable of 
destroying the vital- 
ity of the various 
grains, beans, peas, 
etc. Direct light, 
so essential to sub- 
sequent vegetation, 
is unfavorable to 
germination. 

The time required 
for germination is 
very different in dif- 
ferent species of 
plants. Much also 
depends upon soil, 

TOUNG EADISn, SHOWING SEED-LEAVES. CllmatC, dCgree Of 




Structuke and Growth. 15 

moisture, etc. Under favorable circnmstances, wheat, rye, 
oats, and millet will germinate in one day ; bean, turnip, radish, 
and mustard in three days ; lettuce in four days ; melon, cucum- 
ber, squash, and pumpkin in five days ; barley in seven ; cabbage 
in ten ; parsley in fifteen ; almond, peach, and peony in one 
year, and hawthorn in two years. 

The time that seeds will retain their vitality also differs in 
dififerent species, but in all cases depends partly upon the degree 
in which they are excluded from the action of moisture and 
light. Kidney-beans, peas, and carrot, parsnep, and rhubarb 
seeds are generally considered as losing their vitality at the end 
of one year, but will sometimes germinate after being kept 
much longer. 

These facts have important bearings upon the subject of 
horticulture, and should be constantly borne in mind ; and 
especially is it requisite that the essential conditions of germi- 
nation be held in remembrance. A failure to germinate is 
doubtless often attributed to bad seeds, when the fault is en- 
tirely in the planting. It must be perfectly evident that if your 
seeds are insufficiently covered in a light, dry soil, they will 
lack the first essential of germination, and will be liable to 
wither and perish for want of moisture. This is why light 
soils should be pressed together and upon the seed in planting, 
either by means of a roller or otherwise. Seeds buried too 
deeply, or covered with a heavy, dense soil, pressed too closely 
upon them, fail to germinate for want of communication with 
the atmosphere. If there be not sufficient warmth in the soil 
at the time of planting, and it remain cold for a considerable 
time thereafter, the seeds just as surely perish. Remember the 
conditions of germination — moisture, warmth, and oxygen gas 
(or air containing oxygen). 

Germination being estabhshed by the action of moisture and 
warmth, and maintained by the oxygen of the atmosphere, all 
parts of the embryo enlarge, and new parts are formed at the 
expense of a saccharine or sugary secretion, which the germinat- 
ing seed possesses the power of forming. With the assistance 



16 The Garden. 

of this substance, tlie root or radicle, at first a mere rounded 
cone, extends and pierces the earth in search of food, while 
the other extremity elongates in the opposite direction, bringing 
the cotyledons^ or seed-leaves (except when these remain per- 
manently in the ground, as in the pea, wheat, rye, etc.), and 
the rudimentary leaves and stem, to the surface of the soil. 
The process of germination is now completed — the plant is 
born. 

IL— THE BOOT. 

The root, the stem, and the leaves are called the fundamental 
organs of plants. Of them vegetables essentially consist ; and 
the various organs known by other names are really but repeti- 
tions, under more or less modified forms, of these essential parts. 

Germination, as we have seen, pushes the root downward 
into the earth, where, extending hy the addition of new matter 
to its 2^oint^ it soon enters upon the exercise of its function — 
the absorption of the crude food of the plant from the soil. 
This is carried up through the stem into the leaves, to be di- 
gested or assimilated, and returned to the stem and root, and 
used in the formation of new branches, leaves, and rootlets, as 
well as for increasing the length and size of those already 
formed. The more a plant grows, therefore, the more are the 
means of growth multiplied. 

As the roots are extended by the addition of new matter to 
the extreme points, these points are exceedingly dehcate and 
easily injured. It is mainly through them^ too^ that absorption 
takes place. It is readily seen, therefore, why the careless or 
unskillful removal Of plants from the earth, for the purpose of 
transplanting, by destroying the delicate points of the roots, or 
spongelets^ as they are called, always checks so greatly their 
growth, and often destroys their life. 

Their peculiar mode of growth admirably adapt roots to 
pierce the earth and insinuate themselves into the minutest 
crevices. Thus they pass on from place to place in search of 
fresh pasturage, shifting their mouths, although their bodies 
remain stationary. 



SxiiUCTUKE AND GkOWTH. 17 

Eoots seem to possess a principle akin to instinct, which 
guides them in their search for food ; for they invariably extend 
themselves most rapidly and Avidely in the direction of the 
richest soil. If a strawberry plant be set in a sandy soil, defi- 
cient in nutritive matters, and rich earth placed on one side of 
it, the roots will immediately seek the fertile spot, although at 
first nowhere in contact with it. A decaying bone or a piece 
of rotten wood will in the same way be sought out by the 
roots of a plant requiring the nutritive elements it may contain ; 
and such objects are often found completely covered by a net- 
work of minute rootlets. 

The roots of plants have, to a certain extent, the power of 
selecting their food. In general, they absorb only those sub- 
stances which are needed to develop a;nd perfect their various 
parts. Thus, if a pea and a grain of wheat be planted side by 
side, and made to grow under the same circumstances, the 
wheat plant will absorb silex (in solution) from the earth, while 
the pea will absorb none. This power of selection, however, 
does not enable the roots of plants to reject, under all circum- 
stances, any deleterious agents which may be brought in con- 
tact with them; and it is a curious circumstance that sub- 
stances which are fatal to man are equally so to plants, and in 
nearly the same way. 

In addition to their principal office, as feeding organs, the 
roots of plants are believed to be, to some extent, organs of 
excretion, throwing off any superfluous or deleterious matter 
\^^hich may have been imbibed either by themselves or by the 
leaves. They also possess the power of accumulating a store 
of sap, upon which the plant may draw in time of need. 
Striking examples of the last-named property are furnished by 
the turnip, the beet, the carrot, and other plants of the same 
class. 

In general, roots do not produce buds, and are therefore 
incapable of multiplying the plant to which they belong ; but 
to this rule there are many exceptions, some species having 
the power, under certain circumstances, of forming what are 



18 



The Garden. 



called adv-entitioiLS buds. In such cases they may be employed 
for the purposes of propagation. 

Eoots are not inactive during the winter, as many suppose, 
except while actually frozen, but are perpetually extracting food 
from the earth, and storing it up for the next season's use. A 
long, mild winter is there- 
fore favorable to the vege- 
tation of the succeeding 
spring. 

Roots are of various 
kinds. In reference to 
their duration, they are 
classed as annual^ hien- 
Tiial, and perennial. An 
riBKOTTs BOOT. auuual root lives but a spindle boot. 

single year. It is always fibrous^ or composed of numerous 
branches or rootlets. Biennial roots are those of plants which 
do not blossom till the second year, at the end of which they 
perish. They are thickened or JiesJiy^ and of various shapes — 
conical^ as in the carrot ; spindle-shaped^ as in the radish ; tur- 







TTTBEROTTS ROOT. 



CHEEPING BOOT. 



nip-sJiaped^ clustered, tuberous, etc. Perennial roots are those 
which, like the roots of trees and woody plants, and some 
others, survive from year to year indefinitely. 

A tuber, of which the potato is the best example, is not 
strictly a root, but a modification of the stem, running beneath 



Stkucture and Growth. 19 

the surface of the soil, and having buds (eyes) embedded in a 
cellular substance, consisting principallj of starch. 

BuTbs^ whether formed in the earth, as is generally the case, 
or on the summit of the stem, as in the top or tree onion, are 
simply leaf-buds inclosed in scales or concentric layers. 

III.— THE STEM. 

As soon as the root enters upon the performance of its proper 
function, the stem begins to extend itself upward, and the pri- 
mary leaf-bud, attracting to itself the food procured for it, and 
a part of the nutritive matter stored up in the seed-leaves, ex- 
pands, and the two or more parts or leaves of which it is 
composed separate, and begin to manifest their distinctive 
features. 

The stem is at first composed entirely of cellular tissue, 
possessing neither strength nor tenacity ; but at the moment 
that the first rudiment of a leaf appears upon its growing point, 
the formation of woody matter commences. It consists of tough 
fibers of extreme fineness, which take their rise in the leaves, 
and thence pass downward through the cellular tissue and are 
incorporated with the latter, giving it the necessary strength 
and flexibility. In trees and shrubs these fibers combine 
intimately with each other, and form what is properly called 
wood ; but in herbaceous and annual plants they constitute a 
lax fibrous matter. The woody matter thus plunged, as it 
were, into the cellular tissue, forms within the circumference 
of the stem a tubular partition, separating it into two parts — 
the bark and the pith. This gives us, in perennial stems, the 
three general divisions of pith, wood, and bark. 

The 2>ii^ consists entirely of cellular tissue, gorged at first 
with the nourishing juices of the plant, but afterward becom- 
ing empty and dry. 

The wood consists of the proper woody fiber, interwoven 
with and bound together by thin plates or layers of cellular 
tissue, passing horizontally across it, and forming what are 
called the siher grain in maple, oak, etc. They represent the 



20 



TnE G A EDEN. 



horizontal system of the wood — in botanical language, the 
medullary rays. 

The 'baric consists originally of cellular tissue alone, but after- 
ward the inner portion next the wood has the woody tissue 
formed in it, and becomes the liber^ or fibrous inner bark. 

"Whenever a stem is wounded, it is the cellular or horizontal 
system which forms granulations that eventually coalesce into 
masses, within which the woody tissue is subsequently devel- 
oped, and the communication between the two sides of an inci- 
sion effected. In cuttings, the callus which forms at the end 
placed in the ground is the cellular or horizontal system pre- 
paring for the woody fibers, which are to pass downward in 
the form of roots. 

The description we have given of the structure of a stem 
applies to all plants whose woody matter is augmented annually 
by external additions below the liber, and which are called exo- 
gens, or outside growers. All the trees and shrubs of the 
United States, except the few palms of our Southern confines, 
belong to this class. In the palms, which belong to the class 
of endogeiis^ or inside 
growers, the woody 
matter is augmented 
annually by internal 
additions to their cen- 
ter, thus constantly 
KxoGBN. pushing the woody endoqen. 

growth of former years to their circumference. The stem of 
the asparagus exhibits a similar structure in an herb. In endo- 
gens, the cellular and fibrous systems are all mixed together, 
their mode of growth not requiring the same arrangement of 
parts as exists in the exogens. 

Stems, during their growth, form on their surfaces minute 
vital points, each of which becomes, or may become, a leaf- 
bud, capable of forming another stem or branch like that on 
which it is found. These buds appear immediately above the 
point of union between the leaf and the stem, and are not, 






Structuee and Growth. 21 

under ordinary circumstances, found anywhere else. They 
occasionally, however, appear on other parts, when they are 
called (as when found on the roots) adventitious buds. It 
is by means of the leaf-buds that a cutting is capable of pro- 
ducing a new individual like that from which it was taken. 
Leaf-buds are also capable, under fitting cir- 
cumstances, of growing when separated from 
the parent branch. In some cases they are 
planted in the earth, when they put forth roots, 
and thereby sustain an independent existence. 
In others they are inserted below the bark 
of a kindred species, and, forming new wood, 
adhere to that on which they are placed. 

The principal functions of the stem (aside 
from its continual multiplication of itself by b^hos. 

means of buds) are the support of the leaves and the convey- 
ance and distribution of the sap. In trees, the sap or crude 
food procured by the roots rises principally through the newer 
wood ; but the assimilated sap returns from the leaves in the 
newest bark, or liber^ whence it. is horizontally diffused, through 
the medullary rays^ into the sap-wood and other living parts. 
It is in the bark, therefore, and not in the wood, that we must 
look for the proper juices of a plant. 

IV.— LEAVES. 

A leaf, as defined by Dr. Lindley, is an appendage of the 
stem of a plant having one or more leaf-buds in its axil^ or 
point of union with the stem. In some cases no leaf-buds are 
visible, but they are present, nevertheless, although latent, and 
may be developed by favorable conditions. 

A complete leaf consists of the lamina, or blade, and the 
petiole, or leaf-stalk. In some leaves the petiole is wanting, 
the lamina resting immediately upon the stem, and in others 
there is no proper blade, the whole organ being cylindrical or 
stalk-like. 

Considered in reference to their structure, it may be said 



22 The Garden. 

leaves are extensions of the green layer of tlie bark (which, 
where no proper leaves exist, fulfills their function) expanded 
into thin lamina and strengthened by woody fibers connected 
with the liber^ or inner bark, and with the wood. These woody 
fibers form their frame-work, and afford, at the same time, by 
their microscopic ramifications, a complete and beautiful system 
of veins. The leaf, therefore, like the stem, consists of two 
distinct parts, the cellular and the woody. The cellular por- 
tion is not the structureless, pulpy mass which it appears to be 
to the naked eye, but presents a regular and beautiful arrange- 
ment of cells. The woody part forming the veins, and having, 
as we have seen, a double origin, is arranged in two layers ; the 
upper, arising from the wood, and conveying the ascending 
sap to every part of the leaf, and the lower, connected with 
the liber^ and establishing a communication with the bark, by 
means of which the assimilated juices pass downward. En- 
casing the whole of this wonderfully beautiful apparatus is the 
epidermis^ or skin, pierced by numerous invisible pores or holes, 
called stomates, through which the plant breathes and per- 
spires. 

It would be interesting, in connection with the foregoing 
brief outline of the structure of the leaf, to give some account 
of the different forms of leaves, their various modifications, 
and their systematic and beautiful arrangement on the stem ; 
but as the practical ends we have in view do not require us to 
pursue the subject further in this direction, we must forego it. 

Leaves 'have been called the lungs of plants. They are 
something more than this, being not only organs of respiration, 
but of perspiration and digestion also. They are, at the same 
time, stomach, lungs, and skin. They receive the crude sap 
from the roots through the stem, and, by means of exposure to 
air and light, the decomposition of water and carbonic acid, 
and the throwing off of superfluous moisture^ condense it and 
change it into organizable matter — the true food of plants. 
This elaborated sap is sent immediately downward, to serve for 
the nourishment of every part. 



Structure and Growth. 23 

The nutrition of a plant depending upon its leaves, tlie former 
may be destroyed by simply destroying its foliage. In general, 
it does not immediately die, because it has the power of putting 
forth new leaves, which come into action and supply imper- 
fectly the places of those removed ; but if it be deprived of 
these essential organs during the entire season, its power of 
producing them ceases, and all functions are suspended. 

v.— FLOWERS AND FKUIT. 

A flower is that part of a plant which -is formed for the pur- 
pose of reproducing its species by means of seeds. Fruit is 
the seed, or the seed and its 'pericav'p^ or covering. The 'peri- 
carp includes whatever goes to make up the seed-vessel, 
whether it be a mere thin husk, a hard, bone-like shell, or a 
soft, fleshy pulp. 

Anatomically considered, the parts of a flower are merely 
modified leaves, the whole forming a very short branch. 
"What causes a plant to convert some of its leaf-buds into 
flowers, by fashioning the leaves into calyx^ corolla^ stamens^ 
and pistils^ while other buds become ordinary branches, it is 
not essential to our purpose to explain. It is pretty clear, 
however, that their production depends upon the presence in 
the plant of a sufficient quantity of secreted matter^ fit for 
their maintenance when produced. If it happen, then, that, 
from any cause, there be not, at the usual time of flowering, 
any store of nutritive juices beyond what is required for the 
production of leaves and the growth of the stem, no flower- 
buds are put forth. This is illustrated in the failure of fruit- 
trees to bear at all the season next succeeding one in which an 
excessive crop has been produced.* Sometimes flowers are 
produced, but, the supply of nutriment proving insufficient, 
they drop off" without producing fruit. 

Lindley syllogistically says: "A flower being a kind of 
branch, as has been already shown, and the fruit being an ad- 

* Seo Appendix, A 



24 The Garden. 

vanced stage of the flower, it follows that a fruit is also a kind 
of branch." It has certainly the same organic connection with 
the plant as other branches, and, like them, requires to be sup- 
plied with food, without which it must perish. 

So long as a fruit retains its original green, foliaceous char- 
acter, it is capable of performing, partially at least, the func- 
tions of a leaf, decomposing carbonic acid, etc. A portion of 
the food required for its maturation may therefore be derived, 
by its own action, from the air ; but the greater part must be 
prepared by the leaves from material fm-nished by the roots. 
This shows the necessity of the healthy and regular action of 
the leaves and roots in perfecting fruit, and the importance of 
fruit being placed near the leaves, so that it can readily attract 
the required nutriment from them. If you remove all the 
leaves from a branch containing fruit, you stop the growth of 
the latter almost as effectually as by separating it from the 
stem. 

The juices furnished by the leaves undergo further altera- 
tions by the vital forces of the fruit itself, and this alteration 
varies according to the species. The fruit of the peach is 
sweet, but there is no perceptible sweetness in its leaves ; and 
the fruit of the fig is sweet and nutritious, while the leaves of 
that plant are acrid and deleterious. 

Among the principal immediate causes of the changes which 
occur in the secretions of fruits are heat and light. Fruits 
produced in warm seasons are always much sweeter than those 
which are matured in cold ones ; and the products of hot cli- 
mates abound in sugar, while in those of cold climates acidity 
prevails. 

The ripening of fruit is hastened by dryness, and retarded 
by an excess of moisture. 

Seeds are affected by all the circumstances which affect the 
fruit, which is created primarily for their nutrition and preser- 
vation. The fruit attracts organizable matter from the leaves, 
and the seeds attract it from the fruit. The better the fruit, 
therefore, the more perfect are the seeds. 



Steuctuke and Growth. 25 

All seeds will not eqiitiUy produce vigorous plants ; but the 
healthiness of the seedling will correspond with that of the 
seed from which it sprung. Where vigor is required, the 
plumpest and heaviest seeds should be selected. 

A seed always produces a plant of the same species as that 
from which it was derived, but is not certain to reproduce any 
peculiarity that may have existed in its parent. For instance, 
the seed of a Green Gage plum will grow into a new individual 
of the plum species, but it is not certain, or even likely, to pro- 
duce the variety known as the Green Gage. The variety must 
be propagated in some other way. 

VI.— THE rOOD OF PLANTS. 

The gardener should know precisely what substances plants 
require for their growth and the maturation of their fruit — 
that is, their natural food. This is ascertained by analysis. 
When we have learned of what plants are composed, we know 
what their food must necessarily contain. 

The constituents of plants, as shown by analysis, are of two 
kinds, organic and inorganic. Only the organic constituents, 
however, are universally indispensable. These are oxygen, 
hydrogen, nitrogen, and carbon, which make up at least from 
eighty-eight to ninety -nine per cent, of every vegetable sub- 
stance. The inorganic constituents, which are essential to the 
perfection of any but the lowest grade of plants, consist mainly 
of potash, soda, lime, magnesia, alumina, silex, sulphur, and 
phosphorus. 

Now, where and how are the different kinds of food which 
plants require obtained ? Mainly, no doubt, from the soil, and 
by means of the roots, which, we have seen, are the proper 
feeding organs. The air may, however (and evidently does, in 
some cases, as in the epiphytes^ or air-plants), either directly or 
indirectly, supply all the organic elements. 

But whether derived from the earth or from the air, the 
vlanVs'nourisliment is wholly received either in the gaseous or 
the liquid form ; for the leaves can imbibe air or vapor pnly 

2 



26 The Garden. 

while the tissue of the rootlets is especially adapted to absorb 
liquids, and is incapable of talcing in solid matter^ however 
minutely divided. Let these facts be borne in mind while pre- 
paring your soils and manures. 

The oxygen and hydrogen required by plants is probably de- 
rived principally from water. 

The nitrogen is obtained mostly by the decomposition of 
ammonia (hartshorn), a compound of hydrogen and nitrogen, 
always produced when any animal and almost any vegetable 
substance decays. It is dissolved in water, absorbed by porous 
substances in the soil, and thus furnished to the roots of plants. 

The source of the carbon, which forms much the larger por- 
tion of the bulk of plants, is still to be sought. Carbon itself 
is a solid, absolutely insoluble in water, and therefore not avail- 
able. The chief, if not the only fluid composed of carbon, 
naturally presented to the plant, is that of carbonic acid gas, 
which consists of carbon united with oxygen. This gas makes 
up, on the average, one two-thousandth of the atmosphere, 
from which it may be directly absorbed by the leaves; but, 
being freely soluble in water, up to a certain point, it must be 
carried down by the rain and imbibed by the roots. The car- 
bonic acid of the atmosphere is, therefore, the great source of 
carbon for vegetation. Carbonic acid is also produced in small 
quantities by the action of manures in the soil. 

The carbonic acid absorbed is decomposed in the leaves by 
the action of solar light; the carbon being retained and the 
oxygen thrown off — beautifully reversing the process of animal 
respiration, and thus preserving the proper balance in the 
atmosphere. 

The mineral matters which form the inorganic constituents 
of plants are all either soluble in water, or in the acids or alka- 
lies mixed with it, and are therefore readily absorbed by the 
roots, 

The following analysis of wheat will give the reader an idea 
of the principal mineral constituents of plants generally, as to 
the number of their elements; their proportion will vary 



Structuke and Growth. 27 

greatly in different species. The wheat (the entire plant, in- 
cluding the seed) in 1,000 lbs. gave 11| lbs. of ashes, composed 
as follows : 

Potash 2.25 I Silica 4.00 

Soda 2.40 j Sulphuric acid 50 

Lime 96 I Phosphoric acid 40 

Magnesia 90 I Chlorine 10 

Alumina 26 | Iron, a trace. 

An analysis of perfected plants of the same species, although 
growing in very different soils, will give the same proportion ; 
while different species, although growing in the same soil, will 
give very different proportions, showing that plants require 
definite quantities of the inorganic elements in order to perfect 
growth, and that in soil that does not yield these elements an 
imperfect growth only can be obtained. 

These facts lie at the foundation of rotation of crops and 
manuring. When any given plant has exhausted the soil of 
the soluble elements requisite for its growth, another plant 
requiring different elements, or the same in different propor- 
tions, may grow luxuriantly and in perfection in the same soil. 
Generally the grasses^ such as wheat, rye, oats, etc., require 
large quantities of silica ; peas, clover, and tobacco, much lime ; 
turnips, beets, and sweet potatoes, potash and soda. The stalk 
and fruit often require different elements in different proportions. 
Both of course must be supplied. These elements might exist 
in the soil, but not in a soluble condition, and of course yield 
no benefit to the plant.* 

VII.— CONDITIONS ESSENTIAL TO GROWTH. 

All the conditions essential to growth have already been 
either specially explained or incidentally mentioned ; but it may 
be useful briefly to recapitulate : 

1. Warmth. — "Without this, as we have seen, the latent 
powers of vegetable life can not be called into action. It is 

* See Appendix, B, and also " The Farm," for more on this point. 



28 The' Garden. 

not less essential to their continued activity. Although many 
plants will live at a temperature much below the freezing-point, 
yet no plant is able to grow jmless the temperature is above 
32°, for physical reasons which require no explanation. A 
temperature permanently much higher than a plant requires for 
its healthy growth over-excites, enfeebles, and finally destroys it. 

2. Moisture. — Moisture is obviously essential, both because 
water itself in its pure state furnishes two of the essential ele- 
ments which enter into the composition of all plants, and 
because it constitutes the medium through which the other 
substances required are conveyed into the roots. Excessive 
moisture, however, is destructive to most plants. It is a great 
point in horticulture to determine the degree of moisture most 
congenial to a given species, under given circumstances. As a 
general rule, the plant should le most abundantly supplied with 
moisture when it begins to grow^ and the quantity grctdually 
diminished as it approaches maturity. However, as one effect 
of excessive moisture is to keep the newly-formed parts of a 
plant tender and succulent, those the leaves or roots of which 
(as in the case of lettuce, radishes, etc.) are to be eaten un- 
cooked, should be constantly supplied with moisture. Excess 
of moisture will also cause strawberries and other fruits to 
swell beyond their natural size ; but their flavor is diminished 
in the same proportion. 

3. Food. — A plant can no more live without food than a 
human being can. Deficiency of food dwarfs it, and prevents 
perfect development; and it must not be forgotten that the 
presence in the soil of the nutritive elements is of no avail so 
long as they remain in an insoluble condition. It is only in a 
gaseous or liquid form (allow ns to repeat) that plants are ca- 
pable of receiving their food. 

4. Air. — Plants breathe (in their way), and must therefore 
have air. Much of their nourishment is derived either hnme- 
diately or remotely from it. 

5. Light. — It is by the aid of solar light alone that the leaves 
can properly perform their grand function — the assimilation of 



Stetjctuee and Growth. 29 

the crude sap furnislied them by the roots. It is only under 
the influence of light that they decompose the carbonic acid 
gas from which the large proportion of carbon they require is 
obtained. It is to light also that they owe their green color. 
In the dark this coloring matter is not formed, potatoes and 
other vegetables kept in cellars throwing out white stems and 
leaves. Some plants, however, require less light than others, 
and flourish in shady places. When we wish to blanch a plant, 
as in the case of celery, we exclude the light.* 



* For a further elucidation of the various subjects discussed in the foregoing 
pages, see Lindley's "Theory of Horticulture," Gray's "Botanical Text- 
Book," Boussingault's ^^ Economie Jiurale^" and Darby's "Botany of the 
Southern States," to all of which, and especially to the first-named, we have 
been indebted in the preparation of this chapter. 



30 The Gtaeden". 



11. 
SOILS ANi) MANURES. 

The 80II should be good to the depth of two feet, and any necessary deepening beyoud IhJs, 
by manures or otherwise, should not be neglected.— JVeiH. 

I.— CLASSIFICATION OF SOILS. 

E are accustomed to recognize three prim- 
itive earths — silex (which includes sand 
and gravel), claj, and lime. These, to- 
gether with decayed vegetable and animal 
matter, enter more or less into the compo- 
sition of all soils. On the relative propor- 
tion of these ingredients and their texture, or degree 
of fineness or coarseness, depends mainly the character 
of each variety. 

Soils may first be considered in two grand divisions 
— ^heavy and light, the former being characterized by 
a predominance of clay, and the latter by an excess of sand or 
gravel. 

1. Heavy Soils. — The heavy or clayey soils are also known 
as wet and cold, from their strong affinity for water. In dry 
weather, however, they are liable to bake, or become hard and 
brick-like. They are difficult to work, and, till much modified 
by art and labor, generally unproductive. 

2. LigJit Soils. — The light or sandy and gravelly soils are 
denominated dry and warm, because they permit the water to 
pass readily through them. They are subject to drouth, and 
have the further disadvantage of allowing a large proportion 
of the manure applied to them to pass through into the sub- 
soil. They are easy to work, and crops can be brought to per- 
fection much earlier on them than on clayey soils. 




Soils and Manures. 31 

These grand classes of soils, running into each other by 
imperceptible gradations, and being variously modified, may be 
considered as embracing every variety found on the face of the 
globe. 

3. Loamy Soils. — A mixture of from fifteen to sixty per 
cent, of sand with clay forms a loamy soil. If the sand do not 
exceed thirty per cent., it is called a clay loam; more than 
thirty per cent, constitutes it a sandy loam. 

4. Calcareous Soils. — Calcareous soils are those in which 
lime, exceeding twenty per cent., becomes the distinguishing 
constituent. Calcareous soils may be either calcareous clays, 
calcareous sands, or calcareous loams, according to the propor- 
tions of sand or clay which may be present in them. 

5. Marly Soils. — Soils containing lime, but in which the 
proportion does not exceed twenty per cent., are sometimes 
called marly. 

6. Vegetable Molds. — "When decayed vegetable matter exists 
in so great proportion as to give the predominant character to 
a soil, it receives the name of vegetable mold. Vegetable 
molds are of various kinds, and may be either clayey, sandy, or 
loamy, according to the predominant character of the earthy 
admixtures. 

7. Alluvial Soils. — Alluvial soils are such as have been 
formed by the washings of streams. They are generally loamy, 
and very fertile. 

Besides their principal component parts, every soil must 
contain, in greater or less quantities, all the elements which 
enter into the composition of vegetables. They may have cer- 
tain substances which are not necessary to vegetable life, and 
such as are necessary may be in excess; yet to sustain a healthy, 
prolific vegetation, they must hold, and in a form fitted to its 
support, silex^ alumina^ carbonate of lime^ sulphate of lime^ 
potash^ soda^ magnesia, sulphur, phosphorus, oxyd of iron^ 
manganese, chlorine, and probably iodine. These are called 
the inorganic or earthy parts of soils. In addition to these, 
fertile soils must contain carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, and hydro- 



32 The Gaedei^. 

gen^ which are called organic parts of soils, from their great 
preponderance in vegetables and animals. 

For gardening purposes, a loamj soil, composed of nearly 
equal proportions of clay, sand, and lime, and enriched by de- 
posits of decayed animal and vegetable matter, is perhaps the 
best; but a sandy loam similarly enriched is good. Very 
heavy and very light soils are objectionable ; but the latter less 
so, since it may be much more easily improved. 

Subsoils. — The productiveness of a soil depends to a con- 
siderable extent upon the subsoil or bed on which it rests, 
which may be either clayey, sandy, gravelly, or calcareous. A 
clayey subsoil is unfavorable, as it renders the soil wet and cold. 
Loose and leachy subsoils, consisting mainly of gravel or sand, 
are also undesirable, on account of the facility with which 
moisture and the soluble portions of manures escape into them. 
Calcareous subsoils are considered best. 

II.-IMPEOVEMENT OF SOILS. 

As the original soil of one's garden can not always be a 
matter of choice, the garden being properly situated near the 
house, and the house depending for its location upon other cir- 
cumstances besides the soil, it becomes important to know how 
to improve it if it happen to be of an undesirable character. 

In order to set yourself about the work of improvement with 
a reasonable prospect of success, you should have a clear com- 
prehension of the end to be attained. What, then, are the 
qualities desirable in a garden soil ? 

A garden soil should be loamy, rich in all the elements essen- 
tial to the growth of plants, sufficiently light and friable to be 
easily cultivated, and to allow the roots to penetrate it in every 
direction, and at the same time sufficiently adhesive to retain 
moisture and the soluble portions of manures till they may be 
required by the growing plant. 

Improvement of Clayey Soils.— If it be a clayey soil with 
which you have to do, you will probably, in the first place, 
find it too wet. The only effectual remedy for this defect is 



Soils and Manuees. 33 

thorough underdraining. This not only draws off the surplus 
water, but opens the soil to the action of the atmosphere, 
which, in its passage through it, imparts its nutritive gases, and 
helps to warm and disintegrate it. Deep trenching will aid in 
the process of draining.* 

Having thoroughly drained your plot, you should next give 
your attention to improving the texture of the soil in other 
ways. The natural remedy for their too dense and adhesive 
character seems to be sand ; but to produce the desired effect 
large quantities are required — so large that the improvement 
in that way of large tracts of land is considered impracticable. 
In treating a small garden, however, the expense of the appli- 
cation may often be disregarded. 

Lime is a valuable auxiliary in the improvement of clayey 
soils, forming, with their ingredients, chemical combinations, 
whereby their extreme tenacity is broken up, and adding, at 
the same time, an element of fertility, in which they may be 
deficient. Gypsum, or plaster of Paris, has the same effect in 
a still more powerful degree. Ashes, coarse vegetable manures, 
straw, corn-stalks, leaves, chips, etc., are also very useful, as 
they add new materials, and also help to separate the particles 
of the original soil. 

In cold climates, clayey soils should be plowed or dug in the 
fall, the action of the frost and snow tending to break them up 
and destroy the adhesion of their particles. In the South, 
where there is little frost, and frequent and copious rains occur 
during the winter, this course is injurious rather than beneficial. 

The frequent working of clayey soils with plow, harrow, 
spade, or hoe, if done when they are not too wet, will greatly 
improve them. 

A persevering application of the various means we have 
indicated, will gradually bring the heaviest clay soil into the 
proper loamy consistency for horticultural purposes. 

A loamy soil resting upon a clayey subsoil should in general 

* For chapter on Draining, see " Tlie Farm." 
2* 



84: TiieGakden. 

be underdrained ; but if the stratum of clay be shallow, trench- 
ing or subsoil plowing will answer a good purpose. 

Improvement of Sandy Soils. — If your plot be sandy, its 
improvement, though equally necessary, is less difficult. The 
defects of sandy soils, as we have seen, are lack of adhesive- 
ness, want of affinity for water, and a leachy character, which 
permits the escape of manures. Clay is the principal remedy 
indicated, and a few loads, well incorporated with the original 
soil, will have an astonishing effect in improving a sandy gar- 
den. The required tenacity is thus very readily imparted. 

Lime is scarcely less valuable for application to sandy than 
to clayey soils ; for while it separates the latter, it renders the 
former more adhesive. Gypsum, ashes, and clay marls are 
also exceedingly useful. To these applications should be added 
the frequent use of a heavy roller. 

Where a sandy soil rests upon a clayey subsoil, as is not un- 
frequently the case, it may be greatly improved by trenching 
or deep plowing, by means of which a portion of the subsoil 
is thrown up and mixed with the surface soil. 

Sandy soils, modified as we have indicated, being warm, 
quick, and easy of cultivation, are the best in the world for 
tap-rooted plants and bulbs, and for the production of early 
crops of almost every kind. 

Gravelly soils resemble sandy soils in their characteristic 
defects, and require similar tneatment ; but they are less desir- 
able, and require greater modifications to adapt them to gar- 
dening purposes. 

The other soils named require similar treatment in proportion 
as they approach the clayey or sandy character. 

Depth of Soil. — The soil of most gardens (except on the 
alluvial bottoms of the West) requires improvement in depth 
quite as much as in any other particular. In no part of your 
garden should you be satisfied with less than two feet of good, 
friable soil, easily permeable by the roots of plants. A still 
greater depth is desirable, especially in the fruit department. 
Few who have not had their attention specially drawn to the 



Soils and Manuees. 35 

subject are aware how deeply the roots of some species of 
plants penetrate, when permitted by a proper state of the soil. 
The roots of a strawberry plant are said to have been traced 
Jive feet in a deep, rich soil. 

Trenching and subsoil plowing are the processes by which 
the depth of soil is increased. The former is an expensive 
process, but, in gardening, a remunerative one; the latter is 
much cheaper, and, where it can be applied, serves a good 
purpose. 

Trenching, or subsoil plowing, is positively essential where 
the summers are long and dry, as in portions of the Southern 
States. Mr. White, in his "Gardening for the South," says 
very truly that there is no point of greater importance than 
this. "Poor ground, deeply moved," he adds, "is better than 
rich land with shallow tillage ; and when the ground has been 
once prepared in this way, it will feel the benefit forever after. 
Increasing the depth of the soil in this mode is, to all intents 
and purposes, increasing the size of your garden ; for one fourth 
of an acre thus prepared will yield, in a dry season, as much 
as an acre will with shallow tillage, and the growth of plants 
in good seasons will be fully doubled." 

Trenching should be performed in the fall, and any coarse 
manures you may wish to apply dug in at the time. For a 
description of the process of trenching, see Chapter III. 

Color of Soils. — The color of a soil has an important relation 
to its capacity for heat and moisture, and consequently to its 
adaptedness for horticultural purposes. Dark-colored earths, 
all other things being equal, are the best. 

Old Gardens. — Some old and small gardens are in a very 
bad state from excess of nutritive matters, or rather from the 
unavailable state in which these matters exist in the soil, which, 
instead of consisting of friable mold, presents only a black, 
shining substance, known to chemists as humic acid. This is 
the product of manures saturated with stagnant water, and is 
the result of excessive manuring, frequent watering, and lack 
of drainage. No condition can be more unfavorable to thd 



36 T H E G A E D E N . 

growth of plants than this, and if they grow at all in such soil 
they will be gross, pungent, and unwholesome. The remedy is 
trenching, underdraining, and the application of lime, gypsum, 
ashes, etc. 
Further means of improving soils will be treated of in the 



III.— MANURES. 

If your soil be either wholly or partially deficient in any of 
the constituents of plants, these constituents must be supplied 
by adding to it substances which contain them. The substances 
thus added are called manures, which, in the broadest sense of 
the word, embrace everything which, being added to the. soil, 
promotes directly or indirectly the growth of plants. 

Manures directly assist the growth of plants either by enter- 
ing into their composition, or by absorbing moisture and nutri- 
tive gases from the atmosphere, and holding them for their use. 
Indirectly, manm-es assist the growth of plants by destroying 
vermin or weeds, by decomposing the soil and rendering its 
elements available, by protecting vegetation from sudden 
changes of temperature, or by improving the texture of the 
soil. They are divided into two classes — organic and inorganic. 
The former embraces ordinary vegetable and animal substances, 
and the latter mineral substances. 

Organic Manures. — The principal organic manures are the 
dung of animals, human excrements, urine, flesh, blood, fish, 
swamp-muck, sea-weed, and decayed leaves, hay, straw, and 
wood. Guano, though an animal product, contains so large a 
proportion of salts, and is so deficient in the characteristics of 
recent animal matter that it is generally classed with the inor- 
ganic manures. 

Inorganic Ilamires. — The principal inorganic manures are 
ashes, lime, the marls, gypsum, bones, salt, charcoal, soot, and 
guano. 

Theory of Manures. — The kind of manure which will prove 
most useful in a given instance must be determined by refer- 



Soils and Manures. 37 

ence to several circumstances — the chemical composition and 
mechanical texture of the soil, the character of the climate or 
season, and the kind of crop to be produced. The manures 
most generally applicable are those composed of substances 
which directly enter into and are essential to the growth of 
plants. 

The fertility of a forest is not only maintained but increased 
by the constant decay of its leaves, branches, and trunks, 
which returns to the earth not only the nutritive matter origin- 
ally drawn from it, but also much that has been supplied by 
the atmosphere. This manure is just what the trees need — it 
keeps good the supply of the elements essential to their growth. 
So the parts of any plant decayed and rendered soluble are the 
best manure for its species. But the products of our gardens 
are mainly taken from them, and used as food. Every particle 
not thus made use of should be returned, mixed with other 
vegetable and animal matter, in the form of compost. For the 
rest, stable manures (of which the dung of the horse is the best) 
should be relied on as the grand staples. 

All the ordinarily cultivated plants, as has already been 
stated, contain potash, soda, lime, magnesia, alumina, silica, 
iron, sulphur, phosphorus, chlorine, carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, 
and hydrogen. The four substances last named may, as we 
have seen, be derived either immediately or remotely from the 
air ; but they are all essentials of a fertile soil, and, to perpetu- 
ate its fertility under cultivation, must be supplied in the form 
of manures. 

Stable Manure. — Common stable manure contains potash, 
soda, lime, magnesia, alumina, silica, oxyd of iron, sulphur, 
phosphorus, chlorine, carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, and hydrogen. 
Lime exists both as a carbonate and as a phosphate, potash as 
a muriate and a sulphate, and soda as a carbonate. A compari- 
son of this list of chemical substances with those enumerated 
in the preceding paragraph as the essentials of a fertile soil, 
will at once show the value of stable manure. Every part of 
it has been formed from vegetable substances, and it has only 



38 The Gakden. 

to be rendered friable and soluble to enter again into their 
composition. As plants can not, it will be remembered, absorb 
manures in a gross or solid form, the last point is an important 
one, and of universal application. 

Night Soil. — Human excrements, composted with charcoal- 
dust, ashes, turf, loam, etc., form a most powerful fertilizer. 
Quicklime should never be mixed with night-soil, for while it 
neutralizes the odor, it also expels its fertilizing qualities. ,) 

The Dung of Fowls. — The dung of fowls contains the essen- 
tial qualities of guano, and is next to night-soil in value. It 
should be kept dry, or else mixed at once with a compost which 
will retain all the volatile and soluble matters which it contains. 

Other Organic Manures. — Dead animals, blood, butchers' 
offal, fish, hair, bristles, hay, straw, leaves, sea-weed muck, 
rich turf, the refuse from the kitchen, and the slops from the 
chamber are all of great value as materials for a compost. 

Ashes. — If any dried vegetable product be burned, the incom- 
bustible substance remaining behind is called the ash or ashes. 
This, though generally less than one tenth of its substance, is 
all that the plant necessarily derived from the soil. The sub- 
stances expelled are carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, and hydrogen. 
They return to the air, from which they were either immedi- 
ately or remotely derived. The ashes of vegetables, then, fur- 
nish just the inorganic elements required for their growth. 
Their value as a manure is evident, and it is astonishing that 
any person with a garden or a farm can allow a spoonful of 
them to be wasted. Leached ashes contain all the elements of 
the unleached, but are somewhat less valuable from having lost 
a portion of their potash and soda. Coal ashes, though inferior 
to wood ashes, are still very valuable as manure. 

Lime. — We have already spoken of the value of lime in im- 
proving the texture of soils. It also condenses and retains the 
volatile gases brought in contact with it by the air and rains, 
and converts the insoluble matters of the soil into available food 
for i^lants, besides entering itself directly into the composition 
of nearly all vegetation. 



Soils and Manures. 39 

The Marls. — Marls are composed of carbonate of lime mixed 
with clay, sand, loam, and frequently with phosphate and sul- 
phate of lime and potash, and are valuable as manures in pro- 
portion to the lime and potash they contain. 

Gimno. — This substance is composed of the dung, food, and 
carcasses of sea-birds which have been accumulating for ages on 
some of the islands of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Of its 
value as a manure there can be no doubt. There is much 
fraud in its sale, however, and if great caution be not exercised, 
an adulterated article may be palmed off upon you. It must 
never, in a fresh state, come in direct contact with the seeds or 
roots of plants, as it is certain to destroy their vitality. 

Othe?' Inorganic Manures. — Common salt is valuable in small 
quantities for garden use. On account of its great affinity for 
"water, it attracts the dews and atmospheric vapors, and is 
therefore a preventive of drouth. It is also useful in destroy- 
ing worms, slugs, and larvaa. Old plaster, broken bricks, bones, 
charcoal, soot, and even broken glass, are useful as manures, and 
should be carefully saved and applied. 

Having said so much of the various manures, we must repeat, 
in order to imjjress it upon the reader's mind, that our principal 
reliance should be upon stable manure (with which we would 
include that from the pig-sty) and the composts formed of 
home-made materials, according to directions we are about to 
give. The special manures most likely to be required by soils 
in general are lime, phosphate of lime, and potash. 

Composts. — In or near the garden, and in some out-of-sight 
corner, there should be at all times a compost heap for receiving 
all kinds of rubbish that can have the least value as manure. 

Make a shallow excavation of sufficient size, and a little 
lower at one end than at the other, forming with the earth 
thrown out a small embankment all around it. Into this throw 
green weeds, the sweepings of the yard, the refuse of vegeta- 
bles, leaves, decayed vegetable matter of all kinds, woolen rags, 
old plaster, charcoal-dust, soot, soap-suds, brine, slops from the 
kitchen and chambers, etc. The heap should be dug over occa- 



4:0 TheGarden. 

sionally, 'adding a little ashes and lime. Animal manures 
should be composted in a separate heap, to which ashes and 
lime should not be added, as they would do harm by setting 
free the ammonia. In the latter case, charcoal-dust, plaster of 
Paris, and vegetable mold, leaves, turf, or swamp-muck should 
be used. 

One who has never tried the experiment of carefully hus- 
banding the elements of fertility which accumulate about a 
house, yard, and garden wiU be astonished at the annual amount 
and value of the compost which may, with very little trouble, 
be thus manufactured. Try it.* 

* For a more complete exposition of the whole sulyect of Soila aud Ma- 
nures, see " The Farm." 



FORMATIOIT OF A GrAEDEN". 41 



m. 

FORMATION OP A GARDEN. 

Nothing conduces more to the successful completion of any piece of work than a good begin- 
ning.— J. Nonne, 

I.-SITUATION. 

S it is desirable, if not absolutely necessaiy, 
that the garden should be placed near the 
house, the situation of which must be de- 
termined, in part, at least, by independent 
considerations, our range for the selection 
of a plot is generally quite limited. But it 
is well to know what kind of a situation is best, that 
we may exercise understandingly any liberty of choice 
that may be allowed us. 

For early crops a southeastern exposure, with a slight 
inclination, is best, as it receives the fiill benefit of the 
morning sun. If sheltered on the north and northwest by 
higher grounds or by trees or high walls, so much the better. 
In warm climates, however, a northwestern exposure is better 
for many garden crops. 

In selecting a situation for a garden, reference should also be 
had to soil. If this be originally good, the expense of making 
it so, artificially, will be saved, and only ordinary manuring 
required. Diversity of soils and exposures are also desirable 
combinations of advantages. Proximity to water is important, 
but very low grounds are, if possible, to be avoided. 

II.-SIZE AND SHAPE. 

The size of a garden wiU naturally depend mainly upon the 
wants, tastes, and means of its owner. An acre is not too 
much, but one half or even one fourth of an acre, weU ma- 




42 TheGakden. 

nured and skillfully cultivatecl, will furnisli vegetables and fruits 
sufficient for the use of a small family. If you can consist- 
ently appropriate an acre or more for the purpose of a garden, 
do not be content with less. You will find a ready market for 
its surplus products, and at high prices, too, unless you happen 
to be situated at a great distance from any city or large town. 

The form of a garden, like its situation and size, must depend 
upon circumstances. For convenience in laying out and culti- 
vation, a square or a parallelogram is a good shape. If the 
form be a parallelogram, it is better that it should extend from 
east to west than from north to south. 

III.— LAYING OUT. 

The fruit and kitchen garden are to be looked upon from an 
economical rather than an esthetic point of view, and their 
internal arrangement should be simple, and, so far as circum- 
stances will permit, regular and geometrical. In laying out a 
flower-garden or a lawn, however, no matter how small it may 
be, there is room for the exercise of taste and the creation of 
beauty ; and we will reserve our directions on that point for 
the chapters devoted specially to those topics, confining our- 
selves here to the fruit and kitchen departments. 

Whether within the same inclosure or not, the flower-garden 
will naturally be placed nearest the house. Passing through 
that, we enter the kitchen department, beyond which i^'the 
fruit-garden. It is better, however, in some cases to reverse 
the order of the last two, placing the fruit department next 
the flower-garden. In small gardens, too, these departments 
necessarily intermingle to some extent; but this should be 
avoided so far as is possible, as the trees are very detrimental 
to other crops — shading the ground, injuring tender plants by 
the drippings from their branches, and exhausting the soil by 
means of the heavy drafts made upon it by their roots. Dwarf 
pears may be admitted into the vegetable .department with 
comparative impunity, provided the soil is sufiiciently ma- 
nured to withstand the double demand thus made upon it. 



Formation of a Garden. 43 

A large garden should have a walk through the center, ex- 
tending the whole length, with a turning place at the extremity, 
and broad enough to admit a cart for bringing in the manure 
and conveying the heavier crops to the cellar or other place 
of storage. This walk may be crossed by another at right 
angles, and both should be bordered with currant or gooseberry 
bushes, or other shrubs. In small gardens these walks may be 
narrow and without borders, or may be omitted altogether. 
A border from four to twelve feet wide, and skirted by a walk 
three or four feet wide, should run entirely around the garden. 
The smaller compartments need not be separated by permanent 
walks, and their arrangement must be left to be decided by the 
circumstances of each case. 

The only general direction that seems necessary in reference 
to laying out the fruit department is, that care should be taken 
to give the less hardy trees the most sheltered and warmest 
position, and to so dispose the various kinds that the larger 
trees shall not shade and dwarf the smaller. The fruit-garden 
should have its wall-borders for the cultivation of raspberries, 
blackberries, currants, gooseberries, etc. (unless these, as is 
generally the case in small gardens, are transferred to the bor- 
ders of the kitchen department), and its trellises and arbors 
for grapevines. 

IV.— FENCING. 

A garden should be surrounded by a close fence, at least seven 
feet high, and picketed, to prevent the entrance of thieves. 
The height and closeness of the fence will increase the warmth 
of the air, break the force of high winds, which might injure 
tender plants and trees, and prevent, in a measure, the seeds 
of weeds from being driven into it by the wind. A close board 
fence, however, is an unsightly object, and a high close hedge, 
so soon as it can be grown, may advantageously take its place. 
The Osage Orange and, at the South, the Cherokee and single- 
white Macartney roses are suitable for this purpose. 



44 TheGaedek. 



v.— PEEPAEATION OF THE SOIL. 

1. Draining. — If your soil require draining, this is the first 
thing to be attended to. If in digging a hole two feet deep, 
water be found to collect and stand in it, even during the wettest 
times, you may be sure that draining is required. "N'o one," 
J. J. Thomas says, " who has never given draining a full and 
fair trial can appreciate its importance. Yery often the soil 
may be worked and planted from two to four weeks earlier in 
the spring — a most important advantage for early vegetables. 
Scarcely less is the benefit during the rest of the season in pre- 
venting hard-baked soil in times of drouth." Do not neglect 
this on account of the expense. No operation in gardening 
*' pays" better. A quarter of an acre well underdrained will 
be more valuable than an acre of wet, cold, tenacious, undrained 
soil. Dig parallel ditches from twenty-five to thirty feet apart, 
and from three to four feet deep, forming a slightly inclined 
plane on the bottom, which may be from six inches to a foot 
wide. These ditches may be filled to a sufficient depth with 
rubble-stones or brush, and then covered with soil, if the arched 
tiles or tubes of burned clay, now mostly used, can not be pro- 
cured. The average expense of the best underdraining is esti- 
mated at only from twelve to eighteen dollars an acre. 

2. Trenching. — We have already (in Chapter II.) spoken of 
the necessity of depth of soil for horticultural purposes, and 
especially for the growth of trees, and of the means for deep- 
ening soils naturally too shallow, as nearly aU are. Trenching 
is thus performed : 

" At one end of the plot to be trenched, dig with the spade 
a trench three feet wide and at least two feet deep, throwing 
the earth out on the side opposite to the plot. Now open an- 
other trench of the same width, and put the surface spadeful 
of this into the bottom of the former trench, and the next 
spadeful upon that, until it is opened to the depth of the first 
one. When the plot is entirely trenched in this way, the last 
trench will remain open, and must be filled with the earth 



Formation of a Garden. 45 

thrown out from the first one. If the subsoil be poor and 
gravellj, it is better to take oS the first spadeful, and then 
loosen the bottom to the required depth without bringing it to 
the surface. If the soil require it, as it generally will, layers 
of manure may be added to those of earth alternately." 

3. Subsoil Plowing. — The expense of trenching being great, 
where the plot to be prepared is large, subsoil plowing may be 
substituted, similar results in a somewhat inferior degree being 
obtained. In subsoiling, a common turning plow goes first, and 
the subsoil plow follows, loosening the earth to the required 
depth below the bottom of the ordinary furrow, but not turn- 
ing it up. 

The foregoing preparatory operations being thoroughly per- 
formed, we may consider the garden ready for the ordinary 
processes of cultivation. Of these we shall speak in another 
chapter. 



46 



The Garden. 



IV. 



IHPIEMENTS AND FIXTURES, 



Next lo knowledge and skill are good tools, — The Workman. 




I.— IMPLEMENTS. 

OTJ should supply yourself with good im- 
plements of the various kinds essential to 
the proper performance of every necessary 
operation. To purchase those of an infe- 
rior quality because they can be procured 
at a somewhat lower price is false economy. Ex- 
perience will prove them the more costly in the 
end. They soon get out of repair and become 
useless; besides, in their best estate, much less 
work can be accomplished with them, and that 
imperfectly. 

The Spade. — It is convenient to have several spades of dif- 
ferent sizes, but a No. 2 of Ames' cast steel will serve for most 
purposes. For the flower-garden, a lady needs a smaller and 
lighter one, manufactured especially for feminine use. 

The Shovel. — A shovel is necessary for loading and spreading 
composts and for various other operations. The round-pointed 
ones are perhaps more generally useful in a garden than the 
square-bladed. 

Roes. — You need several hoes, of different sizes and shapes. 
The common square draw-hoes are most used. They are of 
various sizes. One of three or four and another of six or seven 
inches will be found most useful. To these it is desirable to 
add a pronged hoe, a thrust-hoe, and a triangular draw -hoe. 
The latter is useful for digging furrows for seeds. 
liaJces. — The garden rake should be of the best wrought 



Implemen.ts and Fixtures. 47 

iron, with teeth about two and a half inches long and one and 
a half inches apart. The handle should be from six to eight 
feet long. Drill-rakes, which are very useful, if not indis- 
pensable, are made of wood, with obtuselj-pointed teeth, three 
or four in number, placed at a greater or less distance apart, 
for sowing different seeds. In using the drill-rake a line is 
stretched to guide it in making the first drill, and afterward the 
first tooth is kept in the drill last made, as a guide, and thus 
all the rows in a long bed can be made perfectly parallel. 
Several different sizes are required. 

The Trowel. — The trowel is very useful for removing plants, 
with balls of earth for transplanting. It should be from five 
to nine inches long, exclusive of the handle. 

The Dibher. — This is a short piece of round wood, obtusely 
pointed. A serviceable one may be made from an old spade 
or shovel handle. 

The Beel and Line. — These are essential — at least the line, 
which may be used without the reel — where anything like 
straight rows and regularity are desired. The reel may be 
either of wood or of iron. 

The Watering Pot. — One holding four gallons is the best 
size. It should be made of double tin, and kept well painted. 

Garden Shears. — These are of various sizes, and are used 
for clipping hedges and many other purposes. The seven and 
nine-inch sizes are most convenient. There is a smaller article 
made expressly for the ladies. 

The Saw. — The pruning saw is from fourteen to eighteen 
inches long, and is made with fine teeth and a hooked handle, 
for hanging on the limb of a tree. 

Knives.— ^A. pruning knife of moderate size and a budding 
knife will be essential in the fruit-garden. 

Hand- Glasses. — Hand-glasses, either made of panes set in 
boxes, or bell-glasses, are necessary for protecting early plants 
of the tomato, egg-plant, etc. 

Ladders. — A light, common ladder and a standing ladder 
wjU be found indispensable in the fruit department. 



48 The Gaedeit. 

The Wheelharrow. — The wheelbarrow is exceedmgly useful 
in the smallest garden, and in a large one absolutely indispens- 
able. It should be light, but strongly made. 

Additional. — Several other implements are desirable, and in 
particular cases indispensable, among which are, a crowlar., a 
piclc^ a manure fork, a garden roller, a lawn scythe, a hedge 
hook, vine scissors, a hand-cultivator, vine shields, an orchard- 
isVs hook, a hand-syringe, etc. 

The plow, subsoil plow, and cultivator belong rather to the 
farm, and if you cultivate only a small garden, you will find it 
more economical to pay for the occasional use of these imple- 
ments than to invest money in their purchase. 

Preservation of Implements. — Having procured implements 
of a good quality, do not allow them to be destroyed for the 
lack of a little care on your part. An implement that in the 
hands of a careful and economical gardener will last and con- 
tinue serviceable for ten years may be ruined in a single season 
by a negligent and wasteful one. 

In or near the garden should be a tool-house or a room set 
apart for the purpose of storing the implements when not in 
use. Carefully clean your spades, hoe.s, and other implements 
of steel or iron, before returning them to their place. Imple- 
ments of wood should be painted. 

II.— FIXTURES, ETC. 

The gardens and grounds of every rural residence of taste 
should have seats, arbors, and other structures of rustic work 
— that is, work made of the trunks and branches of trees, with 
their bark on and in their natural forms. They may be cheaply 
erected, and will add greatly to the out-of-door attractions. 
The tool-house we have recommended may be of this charac- 
ter, and be made ornamental as well as useful.* 

Pits. — What is called a sunk pit is made by excavating the 
earth and forming walls of brick, stone, or boards. These are 

* See " The House," for designs and descriptions. 



Implements and Fixtures. 



49 



sometimes covered with glass frames, and at other times with 
mats or boards. They are mostly used for the preservation of 
vegetables, such as celery, endive, lettuce, cauliflower, etc. 
The walled pit is partly sunk in the ground and partly above 
it. The walls are formed of brick or stone, finished with a 
wooden or stone cop- 
ing, and covered with 
movable glazed sashes. 
Of this pit Buist says : 

"There is no ap- 
pendage to the garden 
of greater utility than 
this pit. It is two feet the -walled pit. - ^ 

under ground and one foot above it in front, and two feet above 
it at the back, and six or seven feet wide in the clear. It is 
an excellent winter apartment for plants when covered with 
sash and mats. Filled with very rich earth, it produces very 
fine cauliflowers, which will be in use from March to May. If 
filled with warm manure early in February, it will produce 
cucumbers that will be in use from April tq July, or radishes 
and small salading in any quantity." 

Eot Beds. — The common hot-bed frame is a bottomless box 





THE HOT-BED. 



of wood, with a sloping top and covered with a sash. It may 
be of any length or breadth, but from four to six feet wide, 
and from six to ten feet long is a good size. The sashes are 
made without cross-bars, the glass overlapping like the shingles 
of a house. The glass should be proportionally much smaller 
than it is represented in our engraving — not larger than seven- 
by-nine at most. The lap of the panes should not be over 

3 



50 The Garden. 

half an inch. It should be bedded in soft putty, and the sash 
well painted. The sashes should be made to slide in grooves, 
so as to be conveniently moved whenever the bed may require 
to be opened, either wholly or partially, to the air.* The 
whole should be kept under cover when not in use. Directions 
for preparing hot-beds will be found in the next chapter, under 
the head of " Forcing." 

Trellises. — Every garden should have one or more trellises 
for vines. They are of different kinds to adapt them to differ- 
ent situations and purposes. The posts should be made of some 
durable wood. Red cedar is the best. Under the head of the 
grape we shall describe the construction of the trellises required 
for their support. Designs for ornamental trellis-work may be 
found in " The House." 

* Instead of the sashes for covering the frames, the following mode, called, 
the German plan, may perhaps be adopted with advantage ; but we have not 
tried it : 

" Take white cotton cloth, of a close texture, stretch, and nail it on frames 
of any size you wish ; take two ounces of lime-water, four ounces of linseed 
oil, one of white of eggs, two ounces of yellow of eggs ; mix the lime and oil 
with very gentle heat, beat the eggs separately, and mix them with the former ; 
spread this mixture with a paint-brush over the cotton, allowing each coat to 
dry before applying another, until they become water-proof. The following 
are the advantages this shade possesses over glass ones : 1. The cost being 
hardly one fourth. 2. Eepairs are easily and cheaply made. 3. The light. 
They do not require watering; no matter how intense the heat of the sun, the 
plants are never struck down or burned, or checked in growth, neither do they 
grow up long, sick, and weakly, as they do under glass, and still there is 
abundance of light. 4. The heat arising entirely from below is more equable 
and temperate, which is a great object. The vapor rising from the manure 
and earth is condensed by the cool air passing over the surface of the shade, 
and stands in drops upon the inside, and, therefore, the plants do not require 
as frequent watering. If the frames or stretchers are made large, they should 
be intersected by cross-bars about a foot square to support the cloth. These 
articles are just the thing for bringing forward melons, tomatoes, flower-seeds, 
etc., in season for transplanting." 



Horticultural Processes. 51 



V. 

HORTICULTURAL PROCESSES, 

Every operation in gardening depends for its completo and nniversal snccesB upon a knowl- 
edge of the structure of plants, the nature of soils and manures, and the laws of vegetable 
life and growth. — M. Le Jardinier. 

L-STIEEING THB SOIL. 

HE attentive reader of the foregoing chap- 
ters will not require to be told that a thor- 
ough stirring and pulverizing of the soil, as 
one of the first operations in gardening, is 
absolutely essential to any high degree of 
success in the steps which follow. His 
knowledge of the structure of roots and the nature 
of their food has prepared him to appreciate the im- 
portance of the mechanical division of soils. He 
knows that the ground must be readily permeable by 
the tetider rootlets, pervious to moisture and air, and 
so broken up that the water, acids, and alkalies i)enetrating it 
may efficiently act upon its soluble parts. 

Spading is the most effectual method of stirring the soil, 
but, where the plow can be advantageously used, will hardly 
"pay" in this country. In smaU gardens, and in portions of 
all gardens, spading is the only practicable operation. What- 
ever the means used, let the work be thoroughly done. Down- 
ing says: "If I had to preach a sermon on horticulture, I 
should take this for my text — 'Stir the soil.' " 

II.-APPLYING MANURES. 

As the roots of plants usually penetrate every part of the 
soil of a garden, manures^ as a general rule, should le as thor- 




52 The Garden. * 

ouglily mixed as possible with every part. Where the ground 
is to be plowed, they are generally spread upon the surface, 
and turned in by that process. In special cases, as will be 
seen further on, manuring in the hill or drill is advisable. 
Manures are also sometimes applied as top-dressings — that is, 
are spread upon the surface and not dug in. Vegetable and 
animal manures for common garden use should be thoroughly 
rotted and finely pulverized. 

III.-rOECING. 

Every garden should have one or more hot-beds for for- 
warding early tomatoes, cucumbers, cabbages, radishes, let- 
tuce, etc. We have described the hot-bed frame in Chapter 
lY. The bed itself should be composed of stable manure and 
leaves, and must be not less than three feet deep. The manure 
should be first thrown in a heap to ferment, and worked over 
several times, adding water if it should become dry or musty. 
Sometimes the bed is made on the surface of the ground, und at 
others an excavation ten or twelve inches deep is made, in order 
to give the bed a less inconvenient elevation above the general 
surface. The manure and leaves should be spread evenly in 
layers, and pressed down. The bed should be at least six 
inches larger every way than the frame which is to cover it, 
and slope slightly toward the south. "When neatly finished, 
put on the frame, close the sash, and keep all tight till the heat 
rises and steam appears on the glass. So soon as the heat 
rises, give the bed air at noon, or the warmest part of the day, 
but keep it carefully closed the rest of the time. In three or 
four days you may cover the surface with from four to six 
inches of fine, rich garden mold, and so soon as this is warmed* 
through, the bed is ready for use. The seed may be sowed in 
drills, but, for facility of transplanting and to secure an un- 
checked growth, it is better to sow them in small pots, which 
are to be plunged in the mold. Sprinkle gently with water of 
the same temperature as the bed. When the plants appear 
they should have the air every day in which the weather will 



HOETICULTUEAL PROCESSES. 63 

permit. Open the bed also to warm, gentle rains, but keep it 
carefully closed against cold or heavy storms. At night keep 
it well covered with matting or straw. Transplant as soon as 
danger from frost will permit. 

In the South this forcing process may be commenced early 
in the winter, but at the North not till February or March, 
accordmg to the latitude and the season. 

IV.-SOWING SEEDS. 

The first thing to be attended to in seed-sowing is the prep- 
aration of the bed by thoroughly pulverizing the soil ; and the 
smaller the seeds the more finely should the earth be pulver- 
ized. The soil should bc'freshly stirred and moist, but not too 
wet. The depth at which seeds should be buried varies with 
species and with the state of the soil. The objects are to ex- 
clude the light and secure sufiicient moisture for the purposes 
of germination. The latter object requires large seeds, other 
things being equal, to be covered more deeply than small ones. 
If seeds are covered too deeply, unnecessary impediments are 
thrown in the way of the ascending shoots ; and germination 
may be prevented altogether by the exclusion of the air. 
Most garden seeds are sown in drills. The earth should be 
pressed upon them with more or less force, according to the 
nature of the soil, in order to secure the necessaiy degree of 
compactness to retain the moisture and to support the plant 
after germination. Specific directions, where they are required, 
will be given under the name of each plant. 

v.— TEANSPLANTING. 
In transplanting, the principal points to be attended to are — 
care in taking up, to avoid injuring the tender extremities of 
the roots, through which, as we have seen, the plant receives 
its nourishment ; planting firmly, to give it a secure hold of 
the soil ; shading, when necessary, to prevent the evaporation 
from its leaves being greater than the plant, in its enfeebled 
state, can support ; and watering, that it may not lack moist- 



54 TheGaeden. 

ure. Moist weather should also, if possible, be chosen for 
performing the operation. 

As a general rule, in transplanting, the collar of the root 
should not be buried. Cabbages, balsams, and some other 
annuals, which throw out roots above the collar, furnish ex- 
ceptions ; also pears on quince stocks, which must be set so as 
to bring the place where the scion is inserted below the surface 
of the soil. 

The operation of transplanting herbaceous plants should 
always be performed with a trowel, removing a little ball of 
earth with the plant. A damp, cloudy day, an evening, or 
just before a shower, is a favorable time. 

Tap-rooted plants are transplanted with great difficulty, and, 
if the operation be attempted, should be taken up with a con- 
siderable ball of earth. 

In transplanting trees much depends upon the knowledge 
and skill exercised. Thousands of fine trees are lost every 
year through the ignorance and carelessness of transplanters. 

In taking up a tree or shrub for transplanting, be careful to 
injure the roots as little as possible. But in all cases the roots 
will be maimed more or less. The feeding power of the tree 
is to the same extent decreased, and it will not be able to sus- 
tain the draft made upon it by the stem and leaves. These 
must be diminished correspondingly by heading back or short- 
ening. In preparing a place for the reception of the tree, avoid, 
if possible, the sites of old trees. Dig a hole considerably 
larger than the clump of the tree's roots, and from fifteen to 
twenty inches deep, placing the sods, if in sward land, in one 
heap, the soil in another, and the subsoil in a third. The hole 
should be filled with a mixture of the soil, subsoil, and rich, 
black loam, or well-rotted compost manure, to the height 
where it is proper to place the tree. With the hand or spade, 
shape the soil for the roots into the form of a little cone, on 
which to set the hollow in the center of the clump of roots. 
If this is done some weeks, or even months, before setting the 
tree, it will be all the better. 



HORTICULTUEAL PeOCESSES. 55 

If the ground be drj, or if the roots have been much exposed 
to the air since the tree was taken up, soak the roots and the 
lower part of the trunk in water twelve or twenty-four hours. 
Cut off all bruised and broken ends of roots smoothly with a 
knife, and shorten-in the longest, so that the clump of roots 
may have a somewhat circular form. In cutting a root, always 
enter the knife upon the under side, and bring it out, with a 
slope, to the upper side, so that the fibers which may shoot out 
from the edges of the cut shall strike downward into the 
ground, instead of upward, as they svould were the cut made 
as it commonly is. 

"With good, rich soil fill up under, among, around, and above 
the roots, straightening them out with the fingers, and placing 
them in a fan-like and natural position, being very cautious not 
to leave any, even small, hollow places among them. If the 
root is one-sided, make the most you can of the weaker' part. 
At this stage of the work, if you have patience, it is an ex- 
cellent plan to make a circular dam around the edge of 
the hole, and keep it full of water for a half hour or more. 
In setting evergreens, this, by some, is deemed almost indis- 
pensable, unless the ground is quite moist. Next, put in a little 
more earth, pressing it around the tree with the foot. After 
this, throw on an inch or so of loose earth, and the work is 
done. 

Another mode of filling up around the trees, called mudding- 
in^ has proved very successful. Make the circular dam around 
the tree first, or as soon as it is needed, then let one person 
slowly sift the soil into the hole upon the roots, while another 
constantly pours in water, thus keeping the earth in a thin, 
muddy state. 

Very large trees are most successfully transplanted by re- 
moving them with large balls of frozen earth in mid-winter, 
and placing them at once in a hole previously prepared to 
receive them.* 

* See Appendix, C. 



56 The Gakden. 

The fundamental principle to be generally observed in trans- 
planting is to head back the top of the tree in proportion to 
the loss of root that it has sustained by being removed. 

Some fruit-trees may be moved much more easily than 
others. Downing arranges them with reference to this point 
in the following order : Plums, quinces, apples, pears, peaches, 
nectarines, apricots, and, last and most difficult, cherries. It 
is an invariable rule, that the larger the tree the less the chances 
of success. In the northern parts of the United States small 
trees should always be set in the spring. 

Medium-sized trees — say five to ten feet high— may be set 
equally well either in the autumn or spring. Trees of large 
size should be moved late in autumn, in the winter, or quite 
early in the spring. 

The evergreen tribe are, however, best planted out just as 
their buds begin to swell in the spring; but they are some- 
times successfully set in autumn, and also during the last of 
May and first of June. If their roots are exposed to dry, 
out of the ground, they are almost certain to die. 

YI.— WATERING. 

"Watering, like every other operation in gardening, has its 
rules, founded on the general principles laid down in our first 
and second chapters. The most important points to be remem- 
bered are: 1. That on the nature of the plant, the stage of 
its growth, and the dryness or dampness of the atmosphere 
depends the quantity of water required; 2. That the soil 
should never be saturated with water, too much moisture 
proving injurious as well as too little; 3. That the water 
should not be applied at the base of the stem, as it is through 
the extremities of the rootlets mainly that it must be taken up, 
and these, except in tap-rooted plants, are at a greater or less 
distance from the original starting-point ; 4. That in summer, 
the proper time for watering plants is evening, but that in 
colder weather it is better to water them at mid-day ; 5. That 
rain water is better than well or spring water, and that when 



HOETICULTUKAL PuOCESSES. 57 

the latter is used it should be exposed to the air for some time 
before applying it ; 6. That the water should never be colder 
than the plants to be watered. 

VIL— HOEING. 

The necessity for stirring the soil before planting has been 
already shown. As soon as the plants are well above ground 
it should be stirred again. In field culture, and to some extent 
in large gardens, this is done with the plow and cultivator. 
"Where these can not go, the hoe must be faithfully applied. 
The soil can not te stirred too often. 

One object in hoeing is the destruction of weeds. This 
should be thorough — the extermination should be complete. 
Spare not even the smallest. But keeping the weeds down is 
not the only good result attained by hoeing. The soil is 
thereby kept friable and porous, opened to the atmosphere and 
the fertilizing gases, and new, fresh, and cool surface is pre- 
sented for the absorption of moisture. Hoe deeply. A mere 
scratching of the surface is not enough ; and do not fail to Mil 
every weed. 

One year's seeding makes seven years' weeding. 

VIIL— PROTECTION FEOM FEOST. 

Straw and leaves laid several inches deep about their roots 
are very useful in protecting half-hardy plants during the win- 
ter. Garden-pots, empty boxes, barrels, hand-glasses, and cold 
frames should be brought into requisition in particular cases, 
for the protection of early plants from spring frosts, and later 
ones from those of the autumn. Common tumblers may be 
used for very small plants, but they must be raised whenever 
moisture accumulates. 

Fruit-trees in blossom, or covered with young fruit just 
formed, may be protected by keeping up smoldering, smoking 
fires during the night in various parts of the garden, at the 
windward side. But little fire is required, the clouds of smoke 
effectually warding off the frost. The amount of fruit which 

3* 



58 The Garden. 

might often be thus saved would repay a hundred-fold the 
labor and care bestowed in this way. 

IX.— MULCHING. 

Mulching is placing mulch or moist litter of various kinds 
upon the surface of the soil over the roots of trees, shrubs, and 
herbaceous plants. Its uses are the retention of moisture, the 
prevention of injury by frost, and the promotion of an equable 
temperature. Strawberries thinly mulched, the crown being 
uncovered, are rendered more productive and continue longer 
in bearing, especially in hot, dry climates. Newly planted 
fruit-trees are often greatly benefited by mulching. 

X.— DESTEOTING INSECTS. 

The foes against which the gardener is forced to wage a per- 
petual war of extermination, though individually insignificant, 
are in the aggregate most formidable. TVe will try to give a 
few useful hints of a general character to aid the reader in this 
warfare. 

Sowing a garden with salt, at the rate of six or eight bushels 
to the acre, will cause many insects to disappear. It should 
be done in the autumn. Digging the soil in the winter, and 
thus exposing it to the frost, will destroy many grubs, etc. 
TTide-mouthed bottles, partly filled with molasses and water, 
and hung up in a garden, make excellent traps for the moths, 
which are the parents of many destructive vermin. Mr, 
Downing mentions an acquaintance who thus caught and de- 
stroyed in a single season three 'bushels of insects^ and preserved 
his garden almost free from them. A bright fire of resinous 
pine, tar, shavings, or any other combustible, kindled in the 
garden at night, on a platform erected for the purpose, will 
attract and destroy millions. Birds are among the best friends 
of the gardener, and should by no means be destroyed, 
although some of them may eat a few raspberries or cherries. 
Toads live almost entirely upon insects, and do no harm in a 
garden. Induce as many of them as possible to make it their 



HOKTICULTURAL PeOCESSES. 59 

home. Hens and chickens should have access whenever it 
can safely be permitted. 

To drive insects away from plants various preparations are 
useful. A vrriter in the Southern Cultivator recommends the 
following : 

"Put into a barrel of water a quarter of a pound of cam- 
phor, in pieces of the size of a hickory nut, and let it stand a 
day before using. Water your plants with this. The barrel 
may be refilled many times before the camphor will have all 
been dissolved. A cupful of strong lye put into the watei 
will add to the strength of the mixture by causing the water 
to take up more camphor. Camphor is very ofiensive to most 
insects." Tobacco-water is another efficient remedy. Lime, 
charcoal-dust, ashes, soot, snuff, and sulphur sprinkled upon 
plants prove a defense against most destroyers. To expel the 
striped bug from cucumbers, squashes, etc., water the plants 
daily with a strong decoction of quassia, made by pouring four 
gallons of boiling water on four pounds of quassia, in a barrel, 
and, after twelve hours, filling the barrel with water. The 
intolerable squash or pumpkin bug may be thoroughly driven 
off by a decoction of double strength, containing a pound of 
glue to ten gallons, to make it adhere. 

The most effectual and the cheapest remedy for the striped 
bug, however, consists in defending each hill of melons, cu- 
cumbers, squashes, etc., by a box about fifteen inches square, 
the sides being eight to ten inches high, covered with millinet 
or some similar thin material. 

The following recipe for making a " barrier to insects" is 
given in the Gardener'' s Chronicle, It may be easily tried : 

" Take of common resin Ik lbs, ; sweet oil, 1 lb. ; place them 
in a pipkin over the fire until the resin is melted ; stir the mate- 
rials together, that they may be well blended ; when cold the 
substance formed, which the discoverer calls 'rezoil,' will be 
of the consistency of molasses. To use the rezoil it should be 
spread with a brush upon shreds or any fitting material, and 
T^rapped round the stem of the plant ; if any support is used, 



60 The Garden^ 

that should be brushed over also. No insect can possibly, or 
will attempt to cross this barrier ; the rezoil never dries, but 
always remains sticky and clammy — its action as a trap is 
therefore obvious." 

But, however numerous and effective the other remedies, 
"eternal vigilance" can not be dispensed with in dealing with 
the pests of the garden. 

.XL-SAVING SEEDS. 

Choose the best plants for seed — the most true to their Mnd 
and the most perfectly developed ; allow the seeds to become 
perfectly ripe before gathering them; gather when dry, and 
especially take care that they are perfectly dry when put up ; 
store them in paper bags carefully labeled, and keep them in a 
dry, cool place. Great care is necessary in raising seeds to 
preserve the sorts unmixed, as varieties of the same species 
or similar species are almost sure to mix if planted near each 
other. If you raise more than one kind of corn, or pumpkin, 
or cucumber, or melon in the same garden, you can not be 
sure of pure seed. The squashes and pumpkins may mix, or 
the melons with either, the pollen of one being conveyed by 
the wind, or sometimes by bees or other insects, to the pistil 
of the other. 

XII.— EOTATION OF CEOPS. 

Why rotation of crops is beneficial has been already shown, 
and if the reader has forgotten, let him turn back to the first 
chapter. The following is a good rotation for a given portion 
of a garden : 

First year, cabbages. 

Second " onions. 

Third " carrots, beets, or parsneps. 

Fourth " potatoes or turnips. 

Fifth " celery, spinach, or lettuce. 

Celery is excellent to precede asparagus, onions, cauliflower?, 



HOKTICULTUEAL PROCESSES. 61 

or turnips ; old asparagus beds are good for carrots, potatoes, 
etc. ; strawberr}^ and raspberry beds do well for the cabbage 
tribe, and the cabbage tribe may be followed by the tap-rooted 
plants — carrots, beets, etc. 

A large portion of every garden, even at the North, should 
be made to produce two crops each season. All the space occu- 
pied by early peas, beans, and potatoes can be made available 
for turnips and cabbages. Turnips (English or Dutch) may also 
be sown broadcast among the corn and later potatoes after the 
last hoeing. 

XIII.— PPwOPAGATION. 

There are, properly speaking, but two modes of propagating 
plants — by seeds and by division. By the first the species is 
perpetuated, and new varieties raised. The second mode mul- 
tiplies specimens of the individual itself, with all its peculiari- 
ties, which may be and generally are lost in the seed. 

There are several distinct modes of propagating plants by 
division, all, however, depending for their success upon the 
presence of leaf-luds^ each of which, as we have seen, being 
capable, under favorable circumstances, of forming a distinct 
and independent individual. 

1. Suchers. — Some plants, such as the rose, the raspberry, 
the lilac, etc., throw up suckers or sprouts from their roots. 
These spring from what have been described as adventitious 
buds. We have only to divide these from their parent and 
transplant them in a suitable soil to secure their independent 
growth. Offsets and runners are of a similar nature to the 
suckers of the woody plants. The former are young bulbs 
which form by the side of the old one, and merely require 
breaking off and planting. The latter are shoots springing from 
the collar or crown of a plant, and throwing out roots at their 
joints. These have only to be separated from the parent plant 
to become independent individuals. The strawberry is the 
most noted example of this mode of propagation. 

2. Layers. — The tendency manifested by many plants to 
throw out roots from then* joints early suggested to gardeners 



62 The Gakden. 

the idea of making layers. A twig growing out of a tree, at a 
point not far from the ground, is bent down, and the middle 
portion of it buried just under the surface of the soil, and fast- 
ened there by means of a hooked peg, or by a stone or turf 
placed above it. Success is rendered more certain by checking 
the downward flow of the sap. This may be accomplished by 
cutting a slice off the under side of the part of the twig that is 
placed under ground, or, more perfectly, by entering the knife 
on the under side at this point, and splitting the twig upward 
about one or two inches, fastening the split open with a little 
wedge or pebble. The sap accumulating at this point induces 
the throwing out of roots, and the conversion of the shoot into 
a new plant. Trees or shrubs purposely headed down for 
raising layers are called stools. A single quince-bush, thus 
made into a stool^ and its twigs layered, is capable of producing 
many finely-rooted plants in a single season. Of some kinds 
of layers nearly every bud will form roots of its own. 

3. Cuttings. — Cuttings are shoots removed from the parent 
tree or plant without roots. The branches nearest the ground 
are considered best for cuttings, as the tendency to throw out 
roots is greater in them than in those more elevated. They 
should be cut off just below a joint. Some species, however, 
as the willow, the currant, etc., will throw out roots from any 
part of the stem, and generally succeed with even the most 
careless planting. The best time to take off cuttings is in No- 
vember, but in a cold climate they are more likely to succeed 
if kept in damp mold in a cellar, and not planted till spring. 
In planting, bury them to the second joint, leaving one or two 
joints above the surface of the soil. Press the earth com- 
pactly about the lower end. Cuttmgs of delicate plants are 
generally struck (rooted) in pots, and sometimes it is necessary 
to cover them with a bell-glass, to prevent too rapid evaporation. 

4. Bliips. — Slips are cuttings made from the root or collar of 
a plant, or branches stripped off, with a small portion of the 
root or stem attached. They are treated like other cuttings. 
Many kinds of fruit-trees may be readily propagated by slips. 



HOETICULTURAL PROCESSES. 



63 



5. Budding. — Budding consists in introducing the bud of one 
tree or shrub, with a portion of the bark and wood adhering 
to it, below the bark of another tree or shrub. The operation 
is thus performed : With a sharp budding-knife, upon a smooth 
place on the side of the stock, cut a longitudinal slit an inch or 
more long. Across the top of this cut a transverse slit from a 
quarter to half an inch long, so that both slits, taken together, 
shall resemble the letter T. IText, cut from your stick of buds 
a thin sHce of bark, with a little wood in the central portion 
of it, entering the knife about half or three fourths of an inch 
below, and bringing it out about as far above a bud. This 
slice of bark and wood, taken together, is called a lud^ the part 
of the bud which grows into a twig being technically called 
its eye. 

With the ivory haft of your budding-knife, or, if you have 
not such a knife, with any little wedge of wood or ivory, raise 
up the corners of the slit in the stock. Taking hold of the 
bud by its foot-stalk, enter it, and gently push it down to the 
bottom of the incision. The eye of the bud will 
now be from one fourth to three fourths of an inch 
from the transverse part of the slit. The part of the 
bud, if any, projecting above this transverse slit, 
should be cut off, by passing the knife through it, into 
the transverse slit again, so that the upper end of the 
bud and this transverse part of the slit shall make a 
good joint together. Bind the bud firmly with shreds 
of bass-matting, so as to cover every part of it except 
the eye. Woolen yarn or corn husks will answer 
when no matting is at hand. The stock (trunk or 
branch) should be from an eighth of an inch to not 
more than an inch in diameter. 

To prepare a stich of luds for budding, take a scion 
of the present season's growth, and cut off the por- 
tions of each end of it containing buds that are im- stick of 
perfectly developed. Next, cut off the leaves at a ^^"^* 
point about in the middle of their stems or footstalhs. The 



u 



The Gakden. 



buds which are to be used lie in the angle on the upper side 
of these stems. 

Budding is generally performed in the summer or early part 
of autumn. It is essential to success — 1st. That the bark of 
the stock should part freely from the wood, and 2d. That the 
dud which is to he inserted should he well ripened, otherwise it 
will not have vital energy suflBcient to establish itself in its 
new location. "Whenever these conditions can be secured, 
budding may be successfully performed. The buds put in 
early, however, especially in the South, make a considerable 
growth the same season. Buds should be inserted on the 
north side of the stock, if practicable. The operation is one 
of some nicety, and to be successful must be performed rapidly, 
and with fresh, healthy luds, smooth cuts, and cleanly rising 
hark. A few days after budding, the stock should be cut off 
within ten or twelve inches of the bud, and when this has 
grown three or four inches, the stock may be cut off again 
near the budded shoot. All sprouts, or "robbers," as they are 
called, that appear on the stock must be carefully removed. 
Care should also be taken not to allow branches 
from the main shoot of the bud to grow, and to 
secure an upright position of it, a ligature of the 
matting may be passed around the sprout and the 
upper end of the old stock. 

In spring budding, some gardeners recommend 
to make the incisions in the form of an inverted 
J., but we see no good reason for this inversion, 
and believe that the other mode is equally suc- 
cessful. 

Annular budding is applied with success to trees 
of hard wood and thick bark, or those which, like 
the walnut, have buds so large as to render the 
common mode of budding difficult and uncertain. 
A ring of bark is taken from the stock, and one of 
equal size, containing a bud, from the scion. If 

TREATMENT OP ,, , , , , --i ,i • j.' • 

THE BUD. the stock be larger than the scion, an entire ring 




HORTICULTUKAL PkOCESSES. 65 

"vvill not be taken off, but onlj what may be filled by the ring 
of bark from the scion. If the ring of bark froili the scion be 
too large for the stock, it will be reduced so as to just inclose 
the stock. When thus fitted, tie with matting, and cover the 
wound with clay or grafting-wax, and the work is done. 

6. Grafting. — In grafting, a shoot with two or more buds on 
it, instead of a single bud, is transferred from one tree or shrub 
to another. The operation, in all its forms, consists essentially 
in bringing in contact portions of growing shoots, so that the 
liber or inner bark of the two may unite and grow together. 
The same general principles apply to it as to budding. 

The shoot to be transferred is called a scion. The best time 
to cut scions is from the middle of January to the last of Feb- 
ruary, although they may be taken from the trees at any time 
from late autumn until spring. In order to keep them untU 
they may be used, nothing more is necessary than to thrust 
their lower ends into the ground, in a shady place — say close 
on the north side of the trunk of the tree from which they 
were cut ; or a better way is to set them half their length deep 
in a box of fine soil in a cellar. 

In cutting scions, take from the extremity of the limb of a 
tree that part of it which grew the preceding season, 
and keep the shoot or twig entire till wanted for use. 

Scions are united to their stocks in several ways. 
"Whatever may be the mode of operating, however, 
the principle is always the same — namely, the sap- 
vessels of the graft and the stock must be so adapted 
to each other that the sap can flow uninterruptedly 
from the one to the other. 

Cleft grafting is the mode in most common use. cleft 
Stocks from half an inch to two inches in diameter <^s^^"ng. 
are usually worked over in this way. The whole top of a 
large tree may thus be headed back and grafted, so as to 
become even more valuable than one that was grafted in the 
nursery. 

The operation is performed as follows: Saw off the stock 




66 TheGaeden. 

crosswise, then pare the end smoothly with a knife. Next, 
split it down about two inches with a thin, sharp knife, driven 
with a hammer. A narrow wedge is now driven into the 
middle of the cleft, so as to keep the top of it open about a 
quarter of an inch. Out the scion (which should not contain 
more than three or four buds) at the lower end, in the form of 
a wedge, about one and a half inches long, contriving to have 
a bud or eye at the top of the part so formed, to insure greater 
success. The scion is next to be inserted on one side of the 
stock, and fitted nicely into the cleft, so that the inner bark of 
the outer side of the scion shall exactly meet that of the stock. 
On large stocks two scions are thus inserted, one on each side. 

The scions being adjusted, carefully withdraw the wedge 
which stands erect between the scions. Make a ball of wax, 
and lay it on the head of the stock, between the scions, and 
press it down, and spread it so as to cover the head, and lap 
over three fourths of an inch all around upon the bark, and rub 
it down smoothly, being careful to make an air and water-joint 
around the scions and over the end of the stock. Where the 
wax passes over the corner of the stock, it should be quite 
thick, to prevent it from cracking. Then cover the cleft on 
each side quite below its lower extremity, and the work is 
done. The next spring cut off nicely the poorest scion in each 
stock, as one is usually quite sufficient. 

For small seedling stocks, or small sprouts on larger trees, 
less than half an inch in diameter, it is well to adopt the whip 
or splice method. 

Cut the stock with a sharp knife, obliquely upward, without 
bruising or starting the bark, and the scion downward, with a 
corresponding angle, to make the two parts fit nicely, care 
being taken that the inner bark of the stock and scion exactly 
meet. Then lay the parts together, and bind them snugly with 
a strand of matting or bass-bark, and cover the splice with 
grafting- wax or clay, to shield it from the air and water. 

Allied to splice grafting is what is called saddle grafting. 
On stocks of half an inch or more in diameter and scions of 



HOETICTJLTURAL PROCESSES. 67 

the same size, this mode is sometimes employed with excellent 
success. In this process, cut the stock with a drawing-knife 
upward, forming a wedge ; then split with a fine saw the scion, 
and with a knife pare awaj each side to a point, so as to fit 
the stock ; place the parts together, and bind them firmly with 
matting or bark, and cover the whole with clay or grafting- 
wax. At the end of two months the union will generally be 
sufficiently perfect to allow the removal of the covering and 
the ligature, which, if left on too long, will injure the growth. 

In-arch grafting is used when others will scarcely succeed. 
The two trees must stand close to each other. A twig of each, 
without being cut from its tree, must be pared with a long, 
corresponding slanting cut, and the two raw edges must be 
fitted nicely, and bound firmly together, and the joint covered 
with the composition. When the union has taken place, the 
trees are so separated as to leave the scion on the tree where 
it is wanted. 

A mode called root grafting is practiced extensively in nurs- 
eries. The two-year seedling stocks are headed down to within 
an inch or so of the collar or crown ; they are then split, and 
the scion inserted, as in common cleft grafting. The scion is 
held in its place by a piece of matting bound round the stock. 
The stocks to be used for this purpose are generally taken up 
in the fall, grafted in the winter at the fireside, and packed 
away in the cellar till spring, when they are properly planted ; 
the point of insertion of the graft being covered with the soil. 
No wax or clay is necessary. Scions may also be grafted on 
small roots by common splice grafting. The point of union 
should be covered with soil to the depth of two inches. 

Grafting may be performed at almost any season of the year 
with scions properly kept ; but by far the best time is from 
the middle of February, in mild weather, all along until the 
middle of May at the North, and till the end of March at the 
South- — stone-fruits first, and other fruits somewhat later. 

Neither grafting nor budding can be successful, unless be- 
tween different varieties of the same species, as the apple upon 



68 The Garden. 

a seedling apple-tree stock ; or between nearly allied species 
of the same genus, as between the apple and the pear, which 
unions are comparatively imperfect and short-lived ; or, thirdly, 
between nearly allied genera, as between the cherry and the 
plum, which maintain a feeble existence for a limited period, 
and then die. All unions, therefore, between widely different 
genera and species, are utterly impossible, as the graft can not 
live upon the sap supplied by the stock, any more than a lion 
can be fed upon grass. 

To produce dwarf trees, Apple is grafted upon Paradise (or 
Doucin) stocks ; the Pear upon the Quince, Thorn, or Mountain 
Ash ; the Peach upon the Plum ; the Plum upon Mirabelle 
Plum seedlings ; the Cherry upon the Cerasus Mahaleb, and, 
in general, any tree upon any other kindred tree of slower or 
smaller growth. 

The stock and the graft (scion or bud) exert influences upon 
each other mutually. The stock often affects the size and 
flavor of the fruit borne by the graft. Of a graft or stock, 
either may communicate its own diseases and infirmities to the 
other. It is pretty well established, also, that stocks bearing 
early fruits have an influence in accelerating the ripening of 
the fruits which may be made to grow upon them by grafting. 

Grafting Wax. — To make grafting wax of an excellent 
quality, take four parts of resin, two of beeswax, and one of 
tallow; melt the whole together, pour the composition into 
cold water, and work it over thoroughly, pulling it as you 
would molasses candy. The hardness of the wax may be in- 
creased or lessened by applying more or less tallow. In cold 
weather keep the composition in warm water, and in warm 
weather in cold water, to secure the proper consistency for use. 
In using it, the hands should be slightly greased. 

XIV.-PPvUNING. 

The principal objects sought to be attained by pruning are 
to promote the growth, improve the form, and increase the 
fruitfulness of trees. No operation in horticulture requires 



HOETICFLTUEAL PeOCESSES. 69 

the exercise of more knowledge, judgment, and skill, in order 
to the attainment of complete success ; but in general no opera- 
tion is more carelessly, ignorantly, and bunglingly performed, 
or more frequently neglected. 

Pruning to promote the growth of a tree proceeds upon the 
principle that the sap which would have been appropriated 
to the support of the branches, or parts of the top, taken off, 
will go to increase the vigor of the parts which remain. This 
is true within certain limits, but the process must not be car- 
ried too far. Sufficient top must te left to supply leaves for 
the elaboration of the sap. 

Young trees, two or three years from the seed, or one year 
from the graft, are not infrequently headed down to two or 
three buds, on purpose to strengthen their growth. A single 
bud is then trained vertically, and the rest pruned away in the 
course of the summer. In such cases, the growth of the top 
being attended with a corresponding increase of fibrous roots, 
the tree at once becomes vigorous and healthy. 

Peach trees, in our climate, are highly benefited by thus 
shortening-in annually, in the spring, one half, or thereabouts, 
of their entire growth of the previous summer, all over the 
heads of the trees. 

Dwarf pears on quince also require a similar heading-in, an- 
nually each spring, so long as they continue to make a growth 
of scions. 

Pruning to improve the form is applied mostly to ornamental 
trees, to which almost any desirable shape may be given by 
this means. If one part of a tree should outgrow another part, 
the former may be shortened-in in winter, and the shoots pinched 
off the next summer, till the sap is thrown in the right direc- 
tion into the weaker branches, and the balance restored. 
When you desire the new shoots of a branch to take an upright 
direction, prune to an inside bud ; while, if you wish an open, 
spreading top, prune to an outside bud, etc. Do not trim the 
stems or trunks of your trees (whether ornamental or fruit- 
trees) to bare poles, but allow the branches to form near tho 



70 The Gaeden. 

ground, as tliey naturally will in open ground. Your orna- 
mental trees will thus be more beautiful, and your fruit-trees 
more likely to bear well. 

Everything that is favorable to rapid and vigorous growth is 
unfavorable to immediate fruitfulness, hence pruning to induce 
fruitfulness is performed after vegetation has commenced. This 
checks the growth of the wood, impedes the circulation of the 
sap, and promotes the formation of fruit. Top pruning or 
shortening-in is the most common form of pruning to induce 
fruitfulness. Pruning the roots has a similar effect. The oper- 
ation of root pruning is thus performed : 

At a few feet from the trunk of the tree, varying the dis- 
tance according to its size, dig a circular ditch around it, 
eighteen or twenty inches deep, cutting off all the lateral roots 
smoothly, close to the circular mass of earth in which the tree 
stands, removing the outer pieces of roots from the surrounding 
ground, as much as can be done conveniently. Fill up the 
trench with good, rich soil, and the tree will, in this country, 
generally be brought into a permanent fruit-bearing state. 
Repeating the operation annually, apples, pears, and other 
fruit-trees may be rendered productive dwarfs — even so as to 
be planted only six or eight feet apart. And, if at the same 
time we apply the shortening-in process above described, they 
may be kept in a beautiful pyramidal form, and rendered very 
profitable. This work may be done in autumn, in winter, or 
early in the spring. 

Pruning ought to be performed with sharp tools. "When the 
saw is used, the ends of the limbs should afterward be care- 
fully pared with a knife. They should then be covered with 
6ome composition to protect them from the weather. Down- 
ing's Gum-STiellac is admirably adapted to this purpose. This 
preparation is made by dissolving a quantity of the gum in 
alcohol, so that the composition shall be of the consistency of 
thin molasses. The liquid should be kept in a wide-mouthed 
bottle, the cork of which should have a wire (running through 
it into the bottle), with a sponge attached to the end of it. 



HORTICULTTEAL PROCESSES. 71 

When the ohject of pruning is to promote the growth or 
improve the form of a tree, the operation is generally performed 
in the winter or early in the spring. Some, however, recom- 
mend pruning in May or June. 

XY.-TEAININa. 

In England, where fruit-trees generally are trained on walls 
and trellises, this process requires much time and labor on the 
part of the gardener. In this country it is hardly applied at 
all, except to vines and pear-trees, and to the latter only occa- 
sionally. The principal ohject of training is to produce from a 
certain number of branches a larger quantity of fruit than 
would grow on them if left in their natural state. This is 
effected by spreading and bending the branches so as to form 
numerous depositions of the returning sap, aided, where the 
tree is trained against a wall, by the shelter and reflected heat 
which the latter affords. 

Directions for training the grapevine wiU be given under its 
proper head. 

A new mode of training fruit-trees, practiced in the north 
of Eussia, is well deserving of trial in the colder parts of New 
England, especially for cultivating the peach. A tree, one year 
from the graft, is headed down to two healthy, strong wood- 
buds. These are trained horizontally, about ten or twelve 
inches from the ground, to a south waU — perhaps the north 
side of a waU might do quite as well, in our more changeable 
climate. These arms are suffered to throw up vertical shoots, 
which become covered with fruit-spurs. These vertical shoots 
are kept shortened-in, to a length of not more than about 
one or two feet; and these, with the two horizontal arms 
from which they spring, and the short trunk of about ten 
to fourteen inches in length, constitute all there is of the 
tree above ground. The whole tree may be covered, through 
the winter, with two feet or more of soil heaped over it, 
with a deep bank of snow, or with straw, evergreen boughs, 
or the like. 



72 The Garden. 

Peaches, we are convinced, can be raised in this way where 
they fail entirely under ordinary treatment. It has hardly 
been fairly tried, however, in this country.* 



* In preparing the condensed directions for transplanting, budding, grafting, 
pruning, training, etc., contained in this chapter, we have been deeply in- 
debted to the valuable little manual of George Jaques, entitled "A Practical 
Treatise on the Management of Fruit-Trees," which we cordially recommend. 
See also Barry's "Fruit Garden" on these points. 



The Kitchen Gaeden. 73 

VI. 

THE KITCHEN GARDEN. 

I consider the kitchen garden of very considerable importance, aa pot-herbs, salads, and 
roots of varlona kinds are useful In housekeeping. Having a plenty of them at hand, a family 
will not be so likely to run into the error which is too common in this country, of eating flesh 
In too great a proportion for health.— Dr. Deane. 

I.— ESCULENT PwOOTS. 

1. The Potato — Solanum Tulerosum. 

^HE potato, called by the Frencli la pomme 
de terre^ and by the Germans tie ^artoffel, 
is a native of the elevated equatorial regions 
of South America, and is still to be found 
in a wild state in the neighborhood of 
Quito and other places. It appears to have 
been introduced into North America and cultivated by 
the Virginia colonists as early as 1584, A few years 
later it was carried to England by Sir Walter Ealeigh. 
The varieties of the potato are numberless; and, 
while old sorts are constantly disappearing, new ones 
are every year coming into notice and taking their places. 
The duration of a variety is believed by Knight and others to 
be limited to fourteen years. Very few sorts continue to be 
cultivated even that length of time. New varieties are readily 
produced by planting the seed found in the balls. The opera- 
tion is a simple one, and should more frequently be undertaken. 
There is no doubt but that varieties will yet be obtained in this 
way far superior to any yet known. We give in the Appendix 
full directions for producing and proving new sorts. 

To give a list of the best varieties of the potato, were it 
practicable, would be useless. The best sorts of this year 
may be put in the second or third rank next year ; besides, 

4 




14: The 'Garden. 

those to which the preference is given in New York may be 
considered inferior in Pennsylvania, and worthless in Georgia. 
Select for planting those varieties which experience has decided 
to he best adapted to your soil and climate, and to combine 
the various qualities required for table use. 

In a cold, moist climate the potato thrives best in a light 
but rich loam. In a dry, hot climate a heavy loam is prefer- 
able, except for the earliest crop. Vegetable manure is best 
for the potato. Ashes and, where the soil needs it, lime, may 
be added with advantage, but, in garden culture, animal ma- 
nures should, so far as possible, be avoided, as their use tends 
to make the tubers moist and waxy. The manure should be 
well rotted, and thoroughly mixed with the soil. Where you 
can not get sufficient manure of the right kind to properly 
enrich the whole soil, you may scatter it into the driU or hill 
to the thickness of three or four inches. 

In garden culture, plant in drills made with the plow or the 
hoe, from eighteen to twenty-four inches apart (some varieties 
requiring more room than others), placing the sets about nine 
or ten inches apart in the drills. Cover to the depth of from 
four to six inches, according to the texture and condition of 
the soil — a heavy, moist soil requiring less depth of covering 
than a light and dry one. 

In reference to the sets or seed, many and contradictory 
opinions prevail. Some contend that the largest-sized potatoes 
alone should be used for planting; others prefer a medium 
size ; while many use those which are too small for the table. 
Some plant them whole, while others divide them, making 
from two to eight sets from each. Even scooped-out eyes 
have had their advocates. We have no room in this little 
work to advance arguments or adduce evidence, and must be 
content to give our opinion (as indicated by the mode pursued 
in our own garden), which, however, we believe to be based 
on sound theory and supported by general experience. We 
choose for pla7iting medium sized, fully matured, and every 
way sound and perfect tubers — such as we would select for the 



The Kitchen Gaeden. 75 

table— and, if we have plenty of seed, plant them wJiole. If 
there be a deficiency of seed, or the price be very high, we 
divide them longitudinally, making two sets of each potato, 
and plant them with the eyes upward. They should be cut a 
week before planting ; and it is a good plan to roll them in 
ground plaster of Paris or old slaked lime. Something may be 
gained in earliness by cutting the potato transversely in the 
middle, and planting only the seed end, which should be set 
upright in the ground. 

In garden culture, potatoes should generally be hoed at least 
three times, to keep the weeds down, earthing them up a little 
each time ; but if the ground be little infested with weeds, 
twice will do. The first hoeing should be given soon after the 
shoots appear above thQ surface of the ground. If they should 
be partially covered with earth by the operation, no harm will 
be done. Potatoes should never be hoed after ihQ blossoms 
appear. Pinching ofi" the flower-buds will considerably increase 
the crop of tubers. 

Potatoes should not be harvested till the tops are mostly 
dead. They should be exposed to the sun only long enough to 
dry them for storage. Store in a dry cellar (when there is 
danger from frost), and cover them with sand or straw. When 
sprouts begin to grow, as they wiU toward spring, carefully 
rub them off. Their growth will greatly injure the quality of 
the tuber for table use. Those intended for seed should be fre- 
quently turned over to prevent premature growth. 

Of the 2)otato rot^ as it is caUed, little can be profitably said. 
Its cause and remedy are yet to be made known. As pre- 
ventives, a dry soil, the use of lime and ashes, the absence 
of fresh stable manure, early planting, and new, healthy varie- 
ties are recommended. For arresting the disease, cutting off 
the tops on the first appearance of the blight is sometimes 
effectual. 

Potatoes for an early crop are planted in this country from 
the first of January to the first of May, according to the cli- 
mate and season. In the latitude of New York they may in 



76 TheGaeden. 

ordinary seasons and in favorable situations be put into the 
ground from the tenth to the twentieth of March. 

For raising Irish potatoes (as they are invariably called 
there) at the South, the plan published by Mr. Peabody of the 
Soil of the South is undoubtedly a good one. "We have tried 
the same mode with fair success at the ISTorth, using here, 
however, less straw. Mr. Peabody's directions are substantially 
as follows : 

"As soon after Christmas as possible, plow or spade up the 
plot of ground designed for the potato patch, and lay it off in 
furrows two feet apart, and eight or ten inches deep. Pill 
these furrows with decomposed straw or leaves. Elivide each 
potato once, and place the sets, cut side downward, upon the 
straw ; now level the ridge made by the furrow, covering seed, 
straw, and all, and then scatter straw evenly over all to the 
depth of eighteen inches or two feet. No further culture is 
required. In the dryest seasons the yield will be greater than 
when planted in the ordinary way. Many have failed in this 
mode of culture because they have not applied half straw 
enough." 

2. The Sweet Potato — Cojivohulus Batatas. 

This best of all esculent roots belongs to the conwlvulacem or 
bind- weed family. It is a native of the East Indies, but grows 
in perfection in our Southern States. It is raised in large 
quantities in Delaware and New Jersey, and even farther 
north, but the quality of the tubers is inferior to that of those 
produced at the South. 

A dry, loamy soil, inclining to sand, is best for the sweet 
potato. It should be well manured. The special manures 
indicated by an analysis of the root are potash and the phos- 
phates. 

Where the season is sufficiently long to mature it, the sweet 
potato may be propagated by cutting the seed into slips, and 
planting them where they are to grow ; but at the North the 
sprouts must always be started in a hot-bed. Place the pota- 



The Kitchen Garden. 77 

toes in the bed early in April, covering them three or fonr 
inches deep. They will throw np sprouts in three or four 
weeks. When these are about four inches above the surface, 
they may be separated from the parent tuber and planted out 
in hills, leaving the latter to put out other shoots for future 
plantings. The hills or beds should be about four feet apart, 
and raised from six inches to a foot above the common level of 
the ground. Some make continuous ridges four feet apart, and 
plant the sprouts on the top, about a foot asunder. They must 
be kept free from weeds till the vines cover the ground. They 
are fit for gathering when the vines are dead. They are very 
difficult to preserve through the winter. A careful seclusion 
from air and light, the absence of frost, and absolute dryness 
are essential to their preservation. The best way to cook them 
is by baking. 

3. The Tuenip — Brassica Bepa. 

The French call the turnip le 7iavet, and the Germans ber 
©tecfrit&e. It has been in cultivation at least two hundred and 
fifty years. There are many varieties. For early crops the 
English or Flat White, the Early White Dutch, and the Early 
Yellow Dutch are to be preferred. For later sowing we would 
name the Purple-Topped Swede, Skirving's Improved Swede, 
and the White French. Ptivers' Swede and Ashcroft's Swede, 
two varieties lately imported by the Patent Office Department, 
are highly spoken of; but we have not tested them. 

Turnips thrive best in a rich, sandy loam. Bone-dust, lime, 
ashes, and plaster of Paris are good special manures. Sow in 
drUls about two feet apart. Thin out the plants gradually to 
six or eight inches apart. They may be readily transplanted 
if desired. Stir the soil well, and keep the weeds in subjec- 
tion. English turnips do well sown broadcast. Sow the early 
sorts from February to May, according to climate and season. 
Other sowings may be made in July and August for winter 
use. In the latitude of Georgia they may be sowed as late as 
October. Harvestmg should be deferred tiU the approach of 



T8 The Garden. 

cold weather — or at tlie Soutli thej may remain in the ground 
all winter. 

4. The Beet — Beta Vulgaris. 

The beet (Fr. Beterave) is a native of the south of Europe. 
It takes its name from the form of its seed-vessel, which resem- 
bles the Greek letter deta (/S). The best varieties are Extra 
Early Turnip or Bassano, the Early Tm-nip, the Long Blood, 
and the London Blood. 

A light soil, well enriched with manure and well broken up, 
suits the beet. It will grow in almost any soil. Sow in drills 
a foot apart and about an inch deep. Drop the seeds three 
inches apart, cover smoothly, and press the earth firmly upon 
them. Eadishes may be sown in the same bed, as they will 
be removed before the beets are ready for thinning. Keep 
the ground well stirred and free from weeds, and thin the 
beets to about six inches apart. Sow the early sorts in March, 
or the first of April, in the latitude of New York. The later 
varieties may be sowed in May or June. 

In gathering your beets, cut off the leaves an inch or two 
above the collar, and be careful not to break or bruise the root. 
To preserve them through the winter, store in a dry cellar. 
They keep best packed in sand. 

6. The Caeeot — JDaucus Carota. 

The carrot (Er. Garotte) is supposed to have been introduced 
into Europe from the island of Crete. The Early Horn is the 
most forward in ripening, and fully equal in color and flavor to 
any other sort. It may be sown from the middle of April to 
the middle of July in the latitude of New York, and in the 
South from January to April inclusive. The Long Orange 
grows very long and large, but is not equal in flavor to the 
Early Horn. The Altringham is a bright-red variety, of an 
excellent flavor, and keeps well for winter use. It is not quite 
so hardy as the other sorts. 

The carrot succeeds best in a light, rich soil. It must be 
deeply dug and well broken up, or the roots will grow forked 



The Kitchen Garden. 79 

and crooked. Choose a warm spot and a calm day for sowing. 
Sow in drills half an inch deep, and for the Early Horn nine 
inches apart. For the other varieties twelve inches apart is 
better. Eadishes may be sowed in the same bed. Stir the 
ground frequently and deeply, and thin out to from three to 
six inches apart. The latter is the proper distance when the 
plants are to be left to grow to the full size. The directions 
for preparing and preserving them for winter use are the same 
as for beets. 

6. The Paesnep — Partinaca Sativa. 
This very palatable and exceedingly nutritious root is a native 
of Sardinia, and in its wild state is said to be poisonous. In 
French it is called le panais. The best variety is the Sugar 
or Hollow Crown. Soil and culture the same as for the carrot 
and beet. Bone-dust and ashes are the special manures most 
likely to be required. Late in the fall take up as many as you 
need for winter use. The rest may remain in the ground, as 
frost seems to improve their flavor. In the South, lift them 
as wanted during the winter. 

7. Salsify — Tragopogon Porrifolium. 

The Salsify, or Oyster Plant, is a native of England, and is 
less known in this country than it deserves to be. Sow and 
cultivate the same as the parsnep. A portion of the crop may 
remain in the ground all winter. Prepared and cooked accord- 
ing to the following directions, it will be found to resemble the 
oyster in flavor : 

Scrape the roots slightly, soak them in water for an hour, 
and then boil till quite tender. Now let them drain for a short 
time ; meanwhile make a thick batter with white of eggs 
beaten up with a little flour. Grate the roots tolerably fine, 
press them into flattened balls of the size of an oyster, dip 
them in the batter, roll them into grated crackers, and fry 
them in a pan till brown. Another way is to parboil, cut in 
slices, and fry either with or without the batter. Try it. 



80 The Garden. 

8. Jerusalem Aetiohoke — Eeliantlius Tuberosus. 
This plant is a species of sunflower, and is occasionally culti- 
vated for its tuberous roots. It maj be planted like the potato, 
and will grow anywhere. 

II.— THE LEGUMES. 

1. The Pea — Fisum Sativum. 

This universally cultivated plant originated in the south of 
Europe. The catalogues of the seedsmen embrace twenty or 
more varieties. The earliest is the Prince Albert, a dwarf 
grower with small pods. l!^ext to this, in point of earliness, 
is the Cedo-!N"ulli, which is more prolific and of an equally 
fine flavor. The Early "Washington or true May Pea is one of 
the best bearers, and, we think, the finest-flavored of all the 
early varieties. The Dwarf Blue Imperial is considered an 
excellent pea. Blue Surprise, Champion of England, Knight's 
Tall Marrow, Matchless Marrow, and ISTew Mammoth are all 
excellent sorts for later planting. For three varieties, we would 
choose the Cedo-Nulli, the Early Washington, and Champion 
of England, planting in the order in which we have named 
them. For a fourth we would take the Matchless Marrow or 
the ISTew Mammoth. But another person would, perhaps, 
choose differently. A new variety called the Chicarras or 
Spanish Pea, and said to be rich-flavored and marvelously 
productive, was distributed in some of the Southern States last 
year (1857) from the Patent Oflice, but we have not heard the 
results of any experiments which may have been made with it. 

For the early sorts a light, warm, dry, and moderately rich 
soil is to be preferred. If manure be used, it should be weL 
rotted ; but it is better to take ground which has been made 
sufiiciently rich by a previous year's manuring. The later and 
taller varieties require a heavier soil. 

You may plant your early peas at almost any time when the 
ground is not actually frozen, covering with mulch if necessary. 
In the latitude of l^Tew York they may generally be planted 
before the twentieth of March — sometimes on the first — and 



The Kitchen Garden. 81 

require no protection. In the Sontb, any time from January 
to March wUl do. Plant in double drills, from six to nine 
inches apart, according to the variety. The rows should be 
three feet apart for the smaller sorts, and from four to six for 
the larger. Cover the early kinds one inch deep, and the late 
an inch and a half. The sticks should be from two and a half 
to three feet for the early sorts. The Matchless Marrow reaches 
the height of five or six feet, and the New Mammoth is a still 
loftier grower. When the plants are about two inches high, 
stir the ground well, and earth them up a little. Eepeat this 
operation several times before setting the sticks or brush, 
which should be done when the peas are from six to eight 
inches high. If the season be dry, watering will much increase 
the crop. Topping oif the points of the vines soon after the 
first blossom^s appear will hasten the growth of the fruit. The 
smaller kinds of early peas may be planted about half an inch 
apart in the drills, and the later and larger sorts from a third 
of an inch to an inch. It is well to soak them twenty-four 
hours before planting. 

To forward an early crop, plant in lines from east to west, 
and stick a row of cedar, spruce-fir, or other evergreen branches 
along the north side, sloping so as to bend over the plants at 
one foot or eighteen inches from the ground. These protect 
them from cold rains and at the same time leave them open to 
the full influence of the sun. Behind this temporary hedge 
there should be a close board fence, a brick or stone wall, or a 
high close hedge. 

Beans, cabbage, lettuce, radish, or celery may be planted 
between the rows of peas, especially of the earlier sorts. 

Peas which are to be ripened or dried should not be sowed 
before the tenth of June, as aU earlier crops will be infected 
with bugs. 

2. The Bush-Bean — Phaseolus Vulgaris. 

The bean is believed to be a native of India, whence it was 
brought to England near the close of the sixteenth century. In 

4* 



82 TheGakden. 

one form or another it is universally esteemed. Of tlie com- 
mon Bush, Snap, or Kidney bean there are many varieties. 
Among the best are the Early Mohawk (a very hardy sort), 
Early Six Weeks, Early Valentine, Early Dun Colored, Early 
Pink Eye, Early White Marrow, Late Valentine, and the Royal 
Kidney. The tender pods of all these sorts are eaten as string- 
beans; but they are also excellent taken from the pods after 
they are nearly or quite grown, and boiled and prepared in the 
same way that Lima beans usually are. Eor this mode of cook- 
ing we prefer the Pink Eye and the Early White Marrow. 

Beans will thrive in almost any soil ; but for an early crop 
it should be light and dry. If the ground be too wet, they are 
liable to rot» Bone-dust, ashes, and super-phosphate of lime 
are very useful as manures. The bean is destroyed by a slight 
frost, and can therefore seldom be planted, in this climate, till 
the middle of April, or even later. Plant once in two weeks 
till the last of August, to keep up a succession for the table. 
Plant in drills from eighteen inches to two feet asunder, drop- 
ping the beans two inches apart, and covering them about an 
inch deep. Give them frequent and deep hoeings, drawing a 
little earth to the stems. 

The Small White bean, so extensively used in New England 
for baking, may be planted in any vacant spots in the garden 
in June or July, and will require no care except to keep the 
weeds down. 

3. The Commoit Pole Bean — Phaseolus Multiflorus. 
Of the common running or pole bean (le Jiaricot a rames of 
the French), the best varieties are the Dutch Case Knife, London 
Horticultural, White Cranberry, and Scarlet Eunner. Plant 
in hills from the first to the middle of May, and give them 
poles when they begin to put forth runners ; or, better, set the 
poles first, and plant the beans around them. Or they may be 
planted in drills along a border, or on each side of a walk, and 
trained on a slight trellis of laths and lines, and thus be made 
ornamental as well as useful. 



The Kitchen- Garden. 83 

4. The Lima Bean — PJiaseolus Limensis. 

Of the Phaseolus Limensis there are three varieties cultivated 
in the United States — the Green Lima, the White Lima, and 
the Carolina Sewee. The White Lima is to be preferred. It 
requires a strong, rich soil, and should not be planted till 
settled, warm weather, as the seed is very liable to rot in the 
ground if the weather be cool. 

Beans of all kinds can easily be preserved for winter use, 
with very little loss of flavor. You have only to pick them in 
the same state as when for immediate use, and dry them thor- 
oughly in the sun. You may have green beans all the year 
with very little trouble. 

5. The Pea-Nut — Arachis Hypogea. 
This plant, known also as the pindar ground pea and ground 
nut, is a legume bearing its seed under ground. It is cultivated 
extensively in some of the Southern States as a field crop, but a 
few hills may find place in the Southern garden. Make the 
hiUs two and a half or three feet apart, and drop three or four 
of the shelled seeds in each. Cover them two inches deep. 
Thin the plants to two in a hill, and keep the ground free from 
weeds. 

III.— THE CABBAGE FAMILY. 
1. The Common Cabbage — Brassica Oleraoea. 
The cabbage (Fr. cliou pomme) is one of the most ancient of 
garden vegetables. It is mentioned by Pliny as being much 
esteemed in liis times. It was a favorite with the Komans, who 
probably introduced it into England. Its varieties are almost 
numberless. Of the common cabbage, the following are the 
most desirable : Early York (very early, and of a delicate flavor), 
Large Early York (a little later), Early Nonpareil, Early Yanack, 
Early Dutch, Flat Dutch or Drumhead, and the Eed Dutch. 
The last-named is fit only for pickling. For two varieties we 
should choose the Early York and the Drumhead. The Early 
Dutch comes into use between these two. The Early Nonpa- 
reil and the Early Yanack are a httle later than the Early York, 



84 TheGaeden. 

but are in other respects equally desirable. The Early "Wiw- 
ningstadt, a variety sent out from the Patent Office, is said to 
be worthy of trial. 

The cabbage will grow in any soil sufficiently enriched and 
properly prepared. It must be plowed or dug deeply, and well 
pulverized. Common salt, ashes, plaster of Paris, and bone- 
dust may be used with advantage, as the plant abounds in sul- 
phur, phosphorus, soda, and potash. Animal manures may 
also be freely used. 

For producing early spring cabbages, various plans are pur- 
sued. The best mode for general adoption is the following: 
About the tenth of September, for southern New York (a little 
earlier for New England, and a little later for the South), sow 
seeds of the Early York, Nonpareil, or Vanack in a seed-bed 
of rich, light soil. If the weather be dry, sprinkle the bed 
with water a few times, to promote germination. When large 
enough to transplant, set them quite thickly in a cold frame or 
walled pit, for protection during the winter. The frame or 
pit may be covered with boards, adding straw, if necessary, 
when the frost is severe. Give the plants air whenever the 
weather will permit. Carefully exclude the rain, as too much 
moisture will injure them. Early in the spring transplant into 
the compartment of the garden designed for them. Where the 
winters are not too severe, they may be brought forward a 
week or two earlier by planting them out in the fall in good, 
rich soil, previously prepared by throwing it up into high 
ridges, running east and west, and about two feet apart. On 
the south sides of these ridges set out the plants one foot apart. 
They will then be shielded from the north winds, and receive 
all the benefit of the sun. When the weather becomes severe, 
cover with straw, laying it across the ridges. This may be 
removed whenever mild weather returns. Early cabbages 
may also be obtained by starting the plants in a hot-bed, sowing 
in February or March. 

In transplanting cabbages, especially the early ones, the 
growth of which it is important not to check, take them up 



The Kitchen Garden. 85 

with a trowel, removing considerable earth with them, in order 
not to disturb their roots. 

For summer, autumn, and winter use, sow Early Dutch and 
Drmiihead in April and Maj. Transplant into rows two feet 
apart, and eighteen inches apart in the row. Give the plants 
a copious watering the evening previous to taking up, and 
water again after setting out. The whole secret of their after- 
culture lies in frequent and deep hoeing. Hoe while the dew 
is on, if practicable. Never strip off the lower leaves. 

To preserve cabbages in perfection through the winter, the 
following is the best mode with which we are acquainted : As 
late in the fall as the weather will permit, dig trenches eighteen 
or twenty inches apart, parallel to each other, and of any con- 
venient length. Now dig out your cabbages with a spade, and 
transplant them into these trenches as close together as they 
will stand, covering root and stem to the lower leaf. Around 
this bed raise a kind of frame with old posts, rails, or boards 
and earth, making it a little higher at one side than the other, 
and high enough at the lower side to prevent its roof or cover- 
ing from coming in contact with the cabbages. Across this 
frame place poles, lath, or narrow boards, and cover the 
whole thickly with straw, bean haulm, corn-stalks, or any ma- 
terial of that sort. In this way you may have cabbages up to 
April, of as fine a flavor as when transplanted into the trenches. 
A few may be transplanted into a similar trench in the cellar, 
where, of course, they will require no covering. 

2. Savoy Cabbage— ^mssica Oleracea Subanda. 

This member of the great cabbage family takes its name from 
Savoy. It differs from the common cabbage in the wrinkled 
character of its leaves. There are only two varieties worthy 
of culture— the Curled and the Drumhead. The former is to 
be preferred for family use. It is superior in delicacy to the 
common cabbage. Cultivation the same as the winter varieties 
of the latter. 

Brussels Sprouts {chou de Bruxelles) is considered a sub- 



86 The Garden. 

variety of the Savoy. It is a celebrated vegetable in Europe, 
but is not often seen in American gardens. Sow in April, and 
transplant in June into rows eighteen inches apart. Cultivate 
like cabbages. The stem grows to the height of two feet or 
more, and is crowned with numerous little heads of from one 
to two inches in diameter. After they have been frosted 
(which is necessary to their perfection), they may be gathered. 
To prepare them for the table, soak an hour in cold water ; 
boil about twenty minutes ; drain ; season to the taste ; stew 
gently in a sauce of cream or floured butter, stirring them con- 
stantly. They are sometimes served with tomato sauce. They 
may also be cooked simply as cabbages, and eaten with meat, 

3. Borecole — Brassica Oleracea Flmbriata. 

This plant, also called German Greens (Fr. chou 'verf) and 
Scotch Kale, is one of the most delicate and valuable of the 
cabbage tribe. It has large, wrinkled leaves, forming an open 
head or stool. It is perfectly hardy, frost only improving it. 
It remains green and eatable all winter, requiring only a slight 
protection in the Northern States, and none at all at the South. 
For winter and spring greens it is unequaled. Sow and 
cultivate the same as the cabbage. E"o garden should be 
without it. 

4. The Catjliplower — Brassica Oleracea Botrytis, 

The cauliflower is a kind of cabbage, with long, pale green 
leaves, surroundmg a mass or head of white flower-buds. The 
French very appropriately call it le cliou-Jieur. It was intro- 
duced into England from the island of Cyprus. There are only 
two true varieties — the Early and the Late. 

The cauliflower requires a very rich soil and careful culture. 
For the early spring or summer crop, sow the seed from the 
first to the twentieth of September, in a properly prepared 
seed-bed. When the plants are two inches high, transplant 
them into a bed of very rich, light soil, three inches apart each 
way, so that they may grow firm and stocky for removal to their 



The Kitchen Garden. 87 

final place of growth. This should be a bed of the richest 
light earth, two feet deep, and one third of it well-decomposed 
manure, surrounded by a frame or wall, and covered with glass 
or shutters. An open exposure, sheltered from the northwest, 
is essential. The bed should be prepared about the first of 
October, to give it time to settle. Into this bed remove your 
plants about the middle of October (or earlier in a very cold 
climate), setting them eighteen inches apart. Take them up 
carefully with a trowel, and in planting press down the soil 
pretty firmly upon the roots, giving it a gentle watering at the 
same time. No further watering will be required till spring. 
Protect the plants carefully against frost, covering the sash or 
shutters with matting or straw if necessary ; but do not neglect 
to give them the air every mild, clear day. They must not be 
left open to the rain, as too much moisture will cause them to 
"damp off," as it is called, at the neck. When the weather 
becomes warmer in spring, copious waterings may be given. 
Soap-suds and other liquid manures are applied with advantage. 
Early lettuce may be sowed in the same bed between the rows 
of cauliflowers. 

"When a cauliflower has attained its full size, which will be 
indicated by the opening of the border, cut off the head with 
several inches of the stem, and most of the leaves, these being 
taken off, however, before cooking. 

For the autumn crop sow in April, transplant into rich soil, 
two feet apart. Hoe frequently and deeply, and if the season 
be dry, water copiously. They must not suffer from drouth. 
You may know when they need water by the drooping of the 
leaves. The hills about the plant should form a hollow basin 
to retain the moisture. 

The cauliflower is a wholesome and nutritious vegetable, and 
should be more generally cultivated. To cook, soak an hour 
in cold water with a handful of salt in it ; then boil till tender 
in milk and water, taking care to skim the surface, so that not 
the least foulness may fall on the flower. It may be served up 
with sauce, gravy, or melted butter. 



88 The GaPvDen. 

5. Broccoli — Brassica Oleracea Botrytis 
This plant is similar to the cauliflower, from which it is sup- 
posed to have originated. It differs from the latter in its undu- 
lating leaves, its larger size, and its color. It is also a hardier 
plant, but not so delicate in flavor. Grange's Early White 
and the Purple Cape are the best varieties. White recommends 
the latter for the South. Sow in April or May, and treat in the 
same manner as the late cauliflower. They will commence 
heading in October. To have them during the winter, in a 
northern climate, they must be pitted in a cellar or shed. 
South of Virginia they need little, if any, protection. 

The turnip cabbage (fol;l raBt), Brassica napo drassica, and 
the turnip-rooted cabbage, Brassica caulo rapa^ may be added 
to our list, although they are little cultivated. The former, of 
which the Char Namt de Laporie^ from France, is the best, 
requires the same cultivation as the cabbage, and the latter 
should be treated like the Swede turnip. The Green Stemmed 
and the Purple Stemmed are recommended. 

IV.— SPINACEOUS PLANTS. 
1. Spinach — Spinacea Oleracea, 

This vegetable — Vejnjiard of the French — is a native of 
Spain, and is extensively cultivated on the continent of Europe. 
It is excellent for greens, and should receive more attention 
than has yet been accorded to it in this country. There are 
three varieties — the Prickly-Seeded, the Kound-Seeded, and the 
Flanders. The first is best for sowing in the fall for winter 
crops, in a cold climate ; but for spring sowing, and for a mild 
climate, the second is to be preferred. The Flanders is little 
known in this country, but is said to be superior to either of 
the other sorts. 

Spinach requires a rich soil. Sow in drills a quarter of an 
inch deep and nine inches apart. For winter and early spring 
crops, sow about the last of August, and again about the mid- 
dle of September. For summer use, sow from the first of 



The Kitchen Garden. 89 

April to the twenty-fiftli of May. Select an open situation. 
If the soil be light and dry, it must be trodden down or rolled 
with a roller on sowing. Thin out the plants to nine inchea 
apart. Hoe frequently and thoroughly. The winter crop will 
require the protection of a thin layer of straw during the 
severe weather. 

2. New Zealand Spinach — Tetragonia Expansa. 

This is an annual plant from New Zealand. It famishes a 
good substitute for spinach during the summer, when the latter 
fails, but, as it requires to be forwarded in a frame or hot-bed, 
is hardly worth the trouble it costs in a northern climate. 

Garden Orache (atriplex Jiortensis) and Garden Patience 
{rumex patienta) are sometimes used in the place of spinach, 
but are only worthy of a mere mention here. 

Y.— ASPARAGIXOUS PLANTS. 
1. Aspaeagijs — Asjmragus Officinalis. 

The asparagus plant is a native of the sea-coasts of Great 
Britain. The varieties may be reduced to two — the Green Top 
and the Purple Top. 

Asparagus is propagated only by seed, but in forming a new 
bud it is the most economical plan to procure plants two or 
three years old from some nurseryman or gardener. If you 
purpose to raise your own plants, sow early in the spring, in a 
seed-bed formed of rich, sandy loam, in drills an inch and a 
half deep, and eighteen inches from row to row, pressing the 
earth firmly upon the seed. Keep the bed free from weeds by 
frequent hoeing. About the first of the following November 
spread stable litter or something of the sort over the ground, to 
keep the young plants from the frost. 

For the permanent bed, a rich, sandy loam is best. Select, 
if possible, an open situation and a warm southern exposure. 
Trencli or spade deeply, digging in a plenty of manure, as the 
soil can hardly be made too rich or too deep. Over a plot 
forty feet long and twenty feet wide (which will be large 



90 The Garden. 

enoiigli for a moderate family), sow from fifty to a hundred 
pounds of salt, incorporatiug it with, the soil to the depth of 
four or five inches. The ground having been well pulverized 
and leveled, lay it off into beds about four feet wide, with 
alleys two feet wide between them. Drive a stake at each 
corner. This work should all be done toward the end of 
March. ISTow cut a small trench or furrow six inches deep, 
lengthwise of the bed, and about nine inches from the edge. 
Take up the plants very carefully from the seed rows, and set 
them in this trench or furrow, nine inches apart, with the 
crown of the root two inches below the surface, and cover 
them at once. Proceed in the same manner with the whole, 
making the rows twelve or fourteen inches apart. A damp 
day should be chosen for the operation, which must be care- 
fully and skillfully performed. Keep the weeds down during 
the summer, and on the approach of severe weather cover the 
beds to the depth of three or four inches with rotten manure. 
The first two years the plants are permitted to run up to 
stalks, that strong crowns may be formed at their base for a 
future crop. The winter dressing of manure must be continued 
while the bed lasts, the tops being cut off and removed each 
fall. In the spring, so soon as the frost will permit, loosen the 
surface of the beds with a manure fork, introducing it three 
or four inches into the soil, and turning it up, being careful 
not to injure the crown of the roots. A full crop may be ex- 
pected the fourth year after planting, or at the South a year 
earlier. Cut when about four or five inches above the surface. 
The shoot should be cut off slantingly about three inches 
below the surface, using a long, sharp-pointed knife. The 
cutting should never extend beyond the middle of June. 

With good culture, an asparagus bed will continue product- 
ive for fifteen years, but too many shoots must not be cut from 
it, nor the cutting prolonged beyond the time we have named. 

2. Sea Kale — Cramla Maratima. 
This plant is closely related to the cabbage, and is called by 



The Kitchen Garden. 91 

the French le cTiou marin. It is easily cultivated, and we rec- 
ommend our readers to try it. 

Sea Kale flourishes best in a sandy soil, well enriched with 
decomjDosed vegetable manure and a top-dressing of salt. Sow 
the seed in March or April, watering the bed freely if the 
weather be dry. Thin out the plants gradually to two or three 
inches apart, keeping the bed free from weeds by frequent 
hoeing. In November cover the crowns of the plants with a 
few inches of earth. In the spring, prepare beds as for aspara- 
gus, and remove your plants in a similar manner, setting them 
about two feet apart, and covering the crown of the root about 
two inches deep. Water occasionally, if the season be dry, 
and hoe frequently. Allow no plants to go to seed. Early in 
November give the bed two inches of well-rotted manure, 
forking it over lightly at the same time. Now cover the 
crowns of the plants with three or four inches of light soil, or 
with pure sand if you can readily procure it. The bed being 
thus finished, cover the crowns of the plants with large pots 
or boxes, sinking them one or two inches in the ground, and 
carefully stopping any holes in them. Then procure a quantity 
of leaves from the woods, mix them with about the same 
quantity of warm stable manure, and cover the ground and 
boxes to the depth of twenty inches. In severe weather 
throw over this some dry litter or boards. The materials will 
come to a heat in two or three weeks ; and in three or four 
weeks more it will be time to examine a pot or two, and when 
the plants are found to have sprouts from six to eight inches 
long, they may be cut for use. Eemove a portion of the earth, 
and cut close to the crown, and then replace the box or pot, 
and the other materials, and other shoots will soon appear. 
The plants will continue in a vigorous state of growth for two 
months, giving you a supply for the table nearly the whole 
winter ; and having your bed once formed, the forcing process 
just described may be repeated every year for fourteen or fif- 
teen years. In the spring remove the covering gradually, dig- 
ging in a few inches of the decayed material to strengthen the 
plant for a fixture crop. 



92 The Gaedeit. 

To have sea kale without forcing, cover the plants early in 
the spring with eight or ten inches of sand, or fine, light soil. 
They will produce strong shoots, which, on clearing the ground 
around them, will be found to be of a clear white color ; or 
they may be blanched by covering them deeply with oat-straw. 
They are useless unless well blanched. The shoots are cooked 
in the same way as asparagus. 

VI.— ESCULENT BULBS. 

1. The Onion — Allium Cepa. 

The onion is supposed to be a native of Asia. Its culture 
is of "inscrutable antiquity." The most useful varieties are 
the following: Eed Dutch, Portugal, Strasburg, and Silver 
Skinned. The first two varieties named are very hardy and 
keep well, but are of too strong a flavor to suit a delicate 
taste ; the last two are mild-flavored, but are not good keepers. 
The Silver Skinned is much used for pickling. For winter use 
we should choose the Strasburg. 

The onion requires a light and friable, but rich and some- 
what moist soil. The manure used should be well decomposed. 
It need not be deeply mixed with the soil, as the roots of the 
plant do not extend far below the surface. The whole must 
be thoroughly pulverized. The onion may be sowed so soon 
as the ground is in a condition to be worked in the spring. 
Sow in drills half an inch deep and nine or ten inches apart. 
After sowing, press the soil down firmly with a board. Keep 
the bed free from weeds, and stir the soil frequently, but not 
deeply. The onion should not be earthed up at all. It is bet- 
ter that the bulb should be formed entirely above the surface. 
They should be thinned out to two inches apart. This we con- 
sider the best mode of culture for the main crop. • 

For an early crop, sow the seed thickly in drills early in 
April ; and when the bulbs have grown to the size of peas, lift 
them, and put away in an airy loft, to keep till the next spring, 
when set them in shallow drills, covering very lightly, if at all. 
They will be ripe in June or July. Soap-suds will not be 



The Kitchen Gakden. 93 

wasted on the onion bed. Soot and ashes are also good for 
top-dressings. 

To preserve the winter crop, pull in a dry day, put them 
under a shed or similar shelter to diy, and store in a loft where 
they can have plenty of air. 

Onions may be sparingly eaten as a salad, but in the raw 
state are rather difficult of digestion. They are most whole- 
some boiled. Boil twenty minutes in water, with a little salt; 
then pour off the water entirely, and put in equal parts of hot 
water and milk, or skimmed milk alone, and boil twenty min- 
utes more. They may be fried or roasted, but are more diffi- 
cult of digestion in those modes of cooking. 

2. The Top or Teee Osio^— Allium Proliferum. 
This is a very hardy species, producing httle bulbs at the top 
of its seed-stem. It is easily cultivated, comes early to maturity, 
and never fails to produce a crop. Plant the little bulbs very 
early in the spring, cultivating the plants in the same way as 
the other species. They will be ready for use in May or June. 
If large bulbs are required, the seed-stem must be broken off. 
Those not thus treated will produce seed for the next year. 
The top bulbs are considered excellent for pickling. 

3. Potato Onion- — Allium Tuberosum. 

This is supposed to be the kind of onion that was worshiped 
by the Egyptians. It is said never to produce either flowers 
or seed. It is propagated by offsets from the bulbs which 
should be planted in March, in drills eighteen inches apart. 
Set them three inches below the surface, and six inches apart. 
Keep the ground well stirred, but do not earth up the plants. 
They may be lifted by the top as they ripen, which will be 
shown by the drooping and withering of the leaves. In this 
climate they generally ripen in August. They are milder in 
flavor than those raised from the seed, but the bulbs are not so 
large. 

4. The Shallot — Allium Ascalonicum. 

This plant — Vesclialote of the French — was introduced into 



94 The Garden. 

Europe from the town of Ascalon, in Syria. It is little used 
in this country, except by the French, but is to be preferred 
to the onion for some of the purposes of cookery. It is propa- 
gated by offsets, which may be planted in the spring, like the 
sets of the onion. Store in the same way as other onions. 

5. The Leek — Allium Porrum. 

The leek (Fr. 2>orreau) is cultivated in France to an almost 
incredible extent, as it forms an absolutely essential ingredient 
of the soup on which the great body of the nation lives. The 
London Flag and the Musselburgh are improved varieties of 
the common leek. 

The soil for the leek must be rich, deep, and well worked. 
The manure used must be well decomposed. Sow the seed 
thinly, in drills six inches apart and half an inch deep. Thin 
out the plants to an inch apart. When about eight inches 
high, transplant them into a bed previously prepared for them. 
Shorten the roots to about an inch from the plant, and cut off 
two inches or more from the extremity of the leaves. Dibble 
them in drills eight inches apart, and so deeply as the plant 
will admit, without covering the young leaves pushing from its 
center. Choose moist or cloudy weather for the operation ; or, 
if dry, give the plants a copious watering. Hoe frequently, 
drawing the earth about the plants as they grow. They will 
be fit for use in October. The whole plant is much used in 
soups and stews, but the most delicate part is the blanched 
stems. 

6. The Gaelic — Allium Sativum. 

The garlic is much used in southern Europe in sauces and 
salads ; but its unpleasant odor will, we suspect, debar it from 
American tables almost entirely. The bulb is divisible into 
numerous parts called " cloves," by means of which it is propa- 
gated. Plant in the spring, in drills two inches deep and six 
inches apart. When the bulbs are grown, take theui ap, clean 
them, and hang up in bundles. A very slight flavur of garlic 
is not unpleasant in soups and stews. 



The Kitchen Garden. 95 

7. The Chiye — Allium Schmnoprasum. 
This little alliaceous plant is sometimes used as a spring 
salad, or a seasoning for soups. It is easily propagated by 
dividing the bulbs or roots either in autumn or spring, and 
planting them in any bed or border. It will grow anywhere, 
but prefers a moist, rich soil. It is generally spoken of in the 
plural as chives or cives. 

VII.~SALAD PLANTS. 
1. Lettuce — Lactuca Satha. 

The lettuce is appropriately placed at the head of the list 
of modern salad plants. There are two grand varieties of the 
lettuce — the Cabbage and the Cos or Upright — and numerous 
sub-varieties of each. The best of the cabbage sorts are the 
Butter or Early, the Brown Dutch, the Victoria, and the Curled 
India. They will come into use in the order we have named 
them. The last will make good heads most of the summer. 
Of the Cos or Upright sorts the best are the White and the 
Paris. 

A deep, rich, sandy loam suits the lettuce plant. Salt and 
ashes are useful as special manures. Sow as early as the sea- 
son will permit, and repeat at different times during the spring 
and summer. For forcing in a hot-bed, the Early Cabbage 
should be chosen. For a winter crop, the Brown Dutch may 
be treated as we have recommended for Early York and I^on- 
pareil cabbages. In the South it will need no protection. 

The Cos lettuce must be sowed in September, protected 
during the winter, and transplanted out in the spring ; or sowed 
in a hot-bed in February. The Cos varieties are improved by 
tying up the leaves several days before cutting, to blanch them. 

Lettuce may be had through the winter, by sowing in Octo- 
ber in a walled pit or frame, and protecting from frost by 
means of sash and straw mats, giving it air in warm, clear 
days. The earth should be within ^ight inches of the glass. 
Let the plants stand eight or ten inches apart. Water occa- 
sionally, and pick off all decayed leaves. It is a good precau- 



96 The Garden. 

tion to surround the frame or pit with leaves or straw. Lettuce 
requires frequent and deep hoeings. 

2. Ceess — Lepidum Sativum. 
Of the garden cress there are two varieties — the Curled or 
Pepper-Grass and the Broad-Leafed. The former is generally 
preferred. It forms an excellent salad, and is easily cultivated. 
To have it early, sow in a hot-hed in February. In the open 
ground it may be sowed about the last of March. The soil 
should be light and warm for the first sowing. Sow in shallow 
drills, covering the seed very lightly. To have it during the 
season, sow every fortnight. It should grow rapidly, and be 
used when quite young and crisp. 

I "Water-cress is found in brooks, in various parts of the United 
States, but is seldom cultivated. It also is excellent for a salad. 

3. Mustard — Sinapis Alba. 

This salad plant is cultivated in the same manner as cress. 
Cut the leaves for use while they are crisp and tender. "Wash 
them carefully in water to free them from the sand that is 
liable to adhere to them. To have a constant supply, make 
frequent sowings. Table mustard is made from the seeds of 
Sinajpis nigra. 

4. Endive — Cichorium JEJndiva. 

This plant is a native of China and Japan, and is much cul- 
tivated in Europe. The variety generally used for salads is the 
Green Curled. The Broad-Leaved or Batavian is used for 
cooking, in stews and soups. 

A light, rich soil is desirable for the endive. An open expo- 
sure should also be chosen. The best time to sow for an early 
crop is about the first of July in this climate. If sowed ear- 
lier, it is apt to run quickly to seed. In New England, how- 
ever, it may be sowed by the middle of June. In the South, 
"White says, sow in August and September. Sow in drills 
about four inches deep, and about a foot apart, and scatter suf- 
ficient earth upon the seeds to cover them, leaving the drills 



The Kitchen Gakden. 97 

to be filled up in the process of future cultivation. Water 
once or twice, if the weather be drj. When about two inches 
high, thin out the plants to ten inches apart ; and when nearly 
full grown, the leaves may be gathered up in a close, rounded 
form, and tied with a shred of matting or other soft string, 
drawing up a little earth to the stems at the same time. 
Choose a dry day for this operation, and- tie up only a few 
plants at a tune, or in proportion as they may be wanted for 
use. They may also be blanched by covering them with pots 
or boxes. It wiU take about ten days in warm weather, and 
about twenty in cold weather, for the leaves to blanch for use. 
For late crops, sow about the end of July. To have endive 
in perfection during the winter, it must be moved into frames 
or waUed pits about the first of November, taking up consider- 
able earth with the roots. Give air and light in mild weather, 
but protect from heavy rains and severe frosts. 

5. Celery — Ainum Graveoleiis. 

Celery is a native of Great Britain, and in its wild state is a 
coarse, rank weed. Cultivation has made it one of the pleas- 
antest-flavored of all salad plants. There are several varieties. 
The Red Solid is the hardiest, and is therefore generally pre- 
ferred in the colder portions of our country ; but the White 
Solid is crisper and more dehcately flavored. Cole's Superb 
Eed and Seymour's White correspond with the Red Solid and 
the White Solid, and are the kinds to be preferred. 

The soil best suited to the celery plant is a moist, rich vege- 
table mold, to which salt, ashes, and lime may be advantage- 
ously added, as special manures. The animal manures used 
must be thoroughly decomposed. The cultivation of celery 
embraces three distinct operations : 

1. Forwarding the Plants.— Sov^ in a hot-bed from the first 
to the middle of March, or in a warm border in the open 
ground, at several different times, from the first of April to the 
tenth of May. The seed-beds should be of light and finely- 
pulverized soil. Rake in the seeds lightly and regularly, and 

5 



98 The Gaeden. 

in dry weather water moderately, both before and after germi 
nation. Liquid manures are very beneficial. Thin out the 
plants to half an inch apai't. 

2. Stocking or Hardening. — When the plants are two or 
three inches high, prick them out, at successive times, into 
intermediate beds, three or four inches asunder, watering if 
the weather be dry, and protecting from frost with boards or 
mats, if necessary. This intermediate bed should be made 
very rich with well-rotted manure. The plants that remain 
in the seed-bed should be shortened by cutting off their tops 
occasionally, to make them grow more stout, and watered fre- 
quently. Of the transplanted ones, those intended for late 
celery should also be cut off nearly to the crown several times, 
which will retard them and make them grow stout. When the 
plants are from six to twelve inclies high, they must be trans- 
planted into trenches previously prepared for them. 

3. Trench Culture. — It is well to trench the compartment 
of the garden intended for the permanent culture of celery, as 
this process turns the richest soil to the bottom where it will 
be most needed for the nurture of the plant. In ground thus 
prepared, or at least deeply spaded or plowed, mark out the 
trenches a foot wide, and from three to three and a half feet 
apart ; dig out each trench lengthwise, ten or twelve inches in 
width, and a hght spit deep, that is, six or eight inches. Lay 
the earth dug out equally on each side of the trench ; put at 
least four inches of very rotten dung into the trench, then pare 
the sides, and dig the dung and parings with several inches of 
the loose mold at the bottom. A pint of salt to every fifty 
feet of trench, thoroughly mingled with the soil, is recom- 
mended by some, and must, we think, prove beneficial. Trim 
the tops and roots of the plants, and then set them in single 
rows along the middle of each trench, allowing four or five 
inches distance from plant to plant. When this work is fin- 
ished, give the plants water in plenty, and occasionally water 
them from time to time, if the weather be dry, and likewise 
let them be shaded, till they strike root and begin to grow. 



The Kitchen Garden. 99 

Their after-culture consists in stirring the soil in the trench 
frequently Avith a small hoe, and watering copiously in dry 
weather. About the middle of August or the first of Septem- 
ber, you may begin to earth up your plants for blanching. Tie 
the leaves together, or hold them tight with one hand, while 
you draw the earth, which must have been finely pulverized 
with the spade, around the stems, being careful not to cover 
the heart or center of the plant. You may now repeat this 
operation once in ten days, till the plants are fit for use ; but 
this earthing-up must never be done when the plants are in the 
least wet. About the first of October earth up firmly and 
evenly, and with a decided slope from the base, nearly to the 
tops of the leaves. To take up the crop, it is best to begin at 
one end of a row, and dig clean down to the roots, which then 
loosen with a spade, and they may be drawn up entke, without 
breaking the stalks. 

To preserve this plant during the winter, on the approach of 
frost take up a part of the crop, and lay it under sand for win- 
ter use. That left in the beds may be covered with litter, to 
be removed in mild weather. In planting, the white and red 
sorts may conveniently be mixed in the same trench, so that 
only one trench need be opened to obtain both. 

6. The Radish — RapTianus Sativtis. 

The radish (Fr. rave^ Ger. rttig) is a native of China. Of 
the numerous varieties, the Scarlet Short Top is the earliest 
and best. The Early Salmon, Red Turnip-Rooted, White Tur- 
nip-Rooted, White Summer, and Yellow Summer are all 
desirable sorts. For supplying the table in winter, the Black 
Spanish should be chosen. 

Any deep, rich soil, well broken up, will do for the radish, 
but for early crops it is desirable to have it light, dry, and 
warm. Sow as early as the weather will permit, and for a 
continued supply repeat your sowings about once in two weeks 
through the season. The Black Spanish may be stored in the 
cellar, and will keep till spring. 



100 The Garden. 

7. HoESE Eadish — CocTilearia Armoracia. 

Tlie horse-radisli grows best in a rich, moist soil, contiguous 
to water, but may be cultivated in almost any situation. It is 
propagated by sets from the root, which may be dropped into 
boles made with a dibble fifteen inches deep, in soil previously 
trenched or deeply spaded. Fill up the holes with fine earth. 
The plants should stand about ten inches apart. It may be 
planted either in spring or in November. In taking up the 
roots for use, you may leave a small portion at the bottom to 
serve as a new set. In the fall, lift enough for winter use, and 
leave the rest in the ground. It is an excellent condiment. 
The root is scraped into shreds, or grated fine, and eaten with 
vinegar. 

8. CoEN ^Ai.KD-^Fedia OUtoria. 

This plant, sometimes called lamb's lettuce, is a native of 
Europe. It is in use to some extent as a spring salad. Sow 
from the tenth to the twentieth of September, in shallow drills 
six inches apart, and cover lightly, pressing the soil with a 
roller or a board. Keep it clear of weeds, and in November 
cover with straw, and pick the leaves as wanted. If the win- 
ter prove mild, it may be in use the whole season. 

YIII.-THE CUCUMBEE FAMILY. 
1. The Cucumbee — Cucumis Sativiis. 

The cucumber is found wild in almost all warm countries, 
and is cultivated all over the world. The best varieties for 
forcing, or for an early crop in the open air, are the Early 
Short White Prickley and the Long Early Frame. The Long 
Prickley, Negley's Seedling, and California Long Green are 
good for the main crop. Negley's Seedling is best for the table, 
but, we believe, not so productive as some of the other sorts. 
The Gherkin, from France, is much prized for pickling. 

A light loam is best for the cucumber, but it will grow in 
almost any soil, and is very easily cultivated. Make excava- 
tions for your hiUs a foot in diameter and fifteen inches deep, 



The Kitchen Garden. 101 

at the distance of six feet apart each way. Fill these holes 
with a rich mixture of well decayed manure and light soil, 
adding, if convenient, a little ashes, bone-dust, and common 
salt. Raise the hills a little above the level of the ground, by 
covering the manure mixture with loam, and make them 
slightly concave on the top. Plant about the first of May, or 
so soon as the season will admit, putting eight or ten seeds in a 
hill. When the plants have made rough leaves, thin them out 
to three in a hill. Nipping off the points of the vines to make 
them branch out will hasten their fruiting. Stir the ground 
frequently, and keep it free from weeds. 

By forcing in hot-beds, cucumbers may be had in March or 
April ; but few except professional gardeners care to undertake 
the somewhat delicate operation. They may be much for- 
warded, however, with little trouble, by the use of small boxes 
covered with glass, or by the following method : 

Make a hole, and put into it a little hot dung ; let the hole 
be under a warm fence. Put six inches deep of fine rich earth 
on the dung. Sow a parcel of seeds in this earth, and cover at 
night with a bit of carpet or sail-cloth, having first fixed some 
hoops over this little bed. Before the plants show the rough 
leaf, plant two into a little flower-pot, and fill as many pots in 
this way as you please. Have a larger bed ready to put the 
pots into, and covered with earth, so that the pots may be 
plunged in the earth up to their tops. Cover this bed like the 
last. When the plants. have got two rough leaves out, they 
will begin to make a shoot in the middle. Pinch that short off. 
Let them stand in this bed till your cucumbers sown in the 
natural ground come up ; then make some little holes in good, 
rich land, and, taking a pot at a time, turn out the 5aZZ, and fix 
it in the hole. These plants will bear a month sooner than 
those sown in the natural ground. 

The second week in July is sufficiently early to plant for the 
Ml and pickling crop, in the Northern States. In the South, 
the late planted crops are apt to be destroyed by the melon- 
worm. 



102 The Gaeden. 

Cucumber plants being climbers by means of their tendrils, 
some branchy sticks being placed to any advancing runners, 
they will ascend, and produce fruit at a distance from the 
ground, of a clean growth, free from spots, and well flavored. 

2. The Melon — Cucumis Melo. 

The melon is a tropical plant. Our finest varieties are sup- 
posed to have come from Persia and Affghanistan. In the 
south of Europe it is much used as an article of food by the 
lower classes. This use may be made of it with advantage by 
all classes in every country where it can be produced. Its 
varieties are numerous and constantly increasing. The com- 
mon mush-melon, formerly so extensively cultivated, has gen- 
erally given way to newer and better sorts, among which the 
Christiana, Extra Green Nutmeg, Beechwood, Sweet Ispahan, 
Netted Citron, Eock Melon, Cantaloup Prescott (a French 
variety), and the Arica from Japan are much esteemed. [For 
the water-melon {cucurbita citrullus), which belongs to a dif- 
ferent genus of .the same natural order, see the next section.] 

The melon should have the same soil and culture as the 
cucumber (except that it requires less moisture), and may be 
forced in a hot-bed, or forwarded by means of the glass-covered 
boxes in the same way. Never allow more than three plants 
to grow in a hill. Three will produce more fruit than six. As 
the fruit appears and attains the size of a walnut, place under 
each a piece of tile, slate, or glass to protect it from the damp- 
ness of the earth, and assist it in ripening by reflecting the rays 
of the sun. 

IX.— THE PUMPKIN FAMILY. 

I 

1. The Pumpkin — CucurMta Pepo. 
The pumpkin is a native of India and the Levant. Numer- 
ous varieties are cultivated, some of which, originated by 
means of crossings with the squash, can hardly be distinguished 
from that vegetable. The Cashaw and Large Cheese are the 
best that we have tested. The Valparaiso is said to be a good 



The Kitchen Garden. 103 

variety ; and the Honolulu, from the Sandwich Islands, and the 
Citronelle de Touraine^ from France, are new varieties which 
we would recommend for trial. 

The pumpkin will grow anywhere, and with almost any 
treatment. The culture indicated is the same as that for the 
melon or the cucumber. It should never be planted in a gar- 
den, if one has other ground in which it can be cultivated, as 
it will be sure to mix with and contaminate the squashes, 
melons, and cucumbers. New England farmers often raise a 
large crop by planting it with their field corn. 

2. The Squash — Cucurbita Melopepo. 

This plant forms the connecting link between the pumpkin 
and the melon. It originated in the Levant. The best summer 
varieties are the Early Bush and the Early Bush Crooknecked. 
Of fall and winter sorts the Boston Marrow is the best that 
has a fair trial in various soils and climates. It is difficult 
now, however, to obtain it pure. The Golden Imperial, 
Adam's Favorite, and Golden Mammoth are new or less widely 
known varieties, but are much esteemed by those who have 
tried them. 

The soil and cultivation required are the same as for pump- 
kins, melons, and cucimibers. 

3. Vegetable Maeeow — Cucurbita Succada. 

This is a species of gourd. It is cooked like the egg-plant 
when young ; when half grown is used as squash ; and when 
matured is used for pies. Cultivated the same as the squash. 

4. The "Water Melon — Gucurhita Citrullus. 

The water-melon belongs to the same natural family or order 
as the musk-melon or cantaloup, but to a difierent genus or 
subdivision. It is a native of the tropics. The best varieties 
are the Black Spanish, the White Spanish, the Orange, the 
Mountain Sweet, the Carolina, the Texas, the Sugar "White, 
the Syrian, and the Lawson. The Texas, the Sugar White 



104 The Garden. 

(sometimes called Ice Cream), and the Syrian are all new 
varieties — new to us, at least. "We have tested only the Texas, 
which is a superior sort. 

The best soil for the water-melon is a light, sandy loam. 
Animal manures, well decomposed, bone-dust, and super-phos- 
phate of lime should be used in moderate quantities. Cultivate 
the same as mush-melons or cucumbers. If grown near any 
other melon, squash, pumpkin, or cucumber, you can not be 
sure of pure seeds ; and the same remarks will apply to the 
other members of the pumpkin and cucumber families. 

X.— MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTS OF CULTIVATION. 
1. Indian Corn — Zea Mays. 

Every garden should have a few rows of Indian corn. The 
best garden sorts are the Extra Early and Eight-Rowed Sweet. 
New varieties, however, are constantly being produced. 

To produce a good crop, Indian corn requires a good soil, 
and there need be no fear of giving it too much manure. A 
handful of ashes in each hill will benefit the crop. Plant in 
hills three feet apart, dropping five or six seeds in a hill, but 
thinning out to three or four at the first hoeing. If sufficient 
manure have not been mixed with the soil on plowing or dig- 
ging, put a small shovelful in each hill. Plant so soon as the 
season will permit, and make successive plantings till August, 
if you desire a continuous supply. Hoe frequently, making 
broad, flat hills in earthing up the plants. Never plant more 
than one kind of corn in the same garden at one time, as it 
will mix and deteriorate. Change your seed every two or 
three years, getting it, if possible, from a more northern lati- 
tude. 

2. The Tomato — Solanum Lycopersicum. 
This plant belongs to the same family as the potato, and, 
like that vegetable, is almost universally esteemed and culti- 
vated. It is a native of South America. There are several 
sorts — yellow and red. The Large Smooth Eed and the Pear- 



The Kitchen Garden. 105 

Shaped are the best for table use ; but the Large Red, a scol- 
loped or indented variety, is preferred for marketing, as it 
grows much larger. The Large Yellow differs in flavor from 
the Red, and is preferred by some. It comes into use some- 
what earlier than the other sorts. It is much used for pre- 
serves. The Red Cherry-Shaped and the Yellow Cherry- 
Shaped are beautiful varieties, much used for pickling and 
preserving. 

A light, loamy, and moderately rich soil is best for the 
tomato. To have early tomatoes, the plants must be started 
in hot-beds in March. Sow the seeds thinly, or thin out the 
plants soon after they come up. As they advance in growth, 
they may be transplanted into a cold frame or walled pit, pro- 
tected by glass, where they may stand three inches apart to 
harden for final transplanting into the open air ; or they may 
remain in the hot-bed till settled warm weather — from the 
middle to the end of May in this latitude — when they may be 
planted out into a warm, sheltered situation in the open air. 

Those who have no hot-bed or pit may very easOy forward 
a few plants in a large pot or box of rich earth placed in the 
kitchen window, sowing the seeds in it from the middle of 
March to the first of April. Two or three weeks may be 
gained in this way over those planted in the open air. 

For early tomatoes, we form conical hills, a foot or more in 
height, and three feet apart, with a little well-rotted manure 
in the center. Into a little crater-like excavation in the sum- 
mits of these hills we set the plants, which should be taken up 
with a trowel in such a way as not to check their growth. A 
still better way is to sow the seeds in small pots, and in trans- 
planting to transfer the whole ball of earth from the pot to the 
hill. The advantage of the elevated hills is, that the earth 
around the roots is more readily and thoroughly warmed by 
the heat of the sun. For a late crop, or for a hot, dry climate, 
this plan is not to be recommended. 

In the South a plenty of tomatoes may be raised from self- 
eown seed, which will spring up in the garden, and require 

5* 



106 The Gakden. 

little care ; but if tliej are wanted earlier, the plants may be 
forwarded in a frame, or glass-covered boxes, sowing in Febru- 
ary or the first of March, and transplanting when the frosts 
are over. 

The earliest tomato plants should be shortened by taking off 
a few inches of their tops, so soon as they have set their first 
fruit, which will cause it to ripen more rapidly. Stir the soil 
frequently, and keep it free from weeds. Support the plants 
with branches or a little trellis, as you would peas, to keep the 
fruit from the ground. The plants, too, when supported, run 
less to vines, and are much more fruitful. One dozen plants 
properly supported will yield more and better fruit than three 
times that number will when allowed to rest on the ground. 

8. The Egg Plaxt — Solanum Melongena. 

This plant also, as may be seen by its botanical name, belongs 
to the potato family. It is a native of Africa. One of its 
varieties bears a white fruit resembling an Qg^^ whence its 
name ; but the purple varieties only are used in cookery. Of 
these the Large Prickley Purple produces the largest fruit, but 
the Long Purple is superior in flavor, and should be preferred 
for family use. They may be cultivated in the same way as 
tomatoes, but are rather more sensitive and tender. They may 
be sowed in April or the first of May in the open air, selecting 
a warm border, with a southern exposure. 

The fruit is fit for use when two or three inches in diameter, 
and continues so till the seeds begin to change color. It is cut 
in thin slices, and fried, and is also sometimes used in stews and 
soups. 

4. The Cape Goosebeeet — Fhysalis Edulis. 

This is a newly-introduced annual plant, producing fruit of 
the size of a cherry, which is said to be excellent eaten raw or 
made into pies. "We have not yet tested it. It is cultivated 
the same as the tomato. 



The Kitchen Garden. 107 

5. The Peppee — Capsicum Annum. 
The pepper is a tropical plant, but may easily be matured in 
the open air in this climate. It is better, however, to start the 
plants in a hot-bed, if practicable, and transplant in May or 
June. A warm situation and a light, rich soil suit it best. 
The plants should stand in rows eighteen inches apart, and a 
foot apart in the rows. Earth them up a little in cultivation. 
The Bell or Sweet is the best for pickling. The Cayenne la 
more used in its ripe state as a seasoning. 

6. Okea — Hibiscus Esculentus. 
This vegetable, which belongs to the natural family of the 
cotton plant, was introduced from the West Indies, and is much 
cultivated in the Southern States. It is often called gumbo 
(Tr. gombo)^ and is used as an ingredient in stews and soups. 
It is cultivated to a considerable extent in New Jersey, and 
may be produced still farther north, A light, dry soil is best 
suited to it. Plant in drills three feet apart, scattering the 
seeds sparsely, and thin out to eighteen inches apart in the 
drill. It requires careful culture in a northern climate. Hoe 
very frequently, and keep the ground free from weeds. The 
pods must be gathered while quite green and tender. They 
may be cut into thin slices and dried for winter use. 

T. Rhubarb — Eheum EJiaponticnm. 

Rhubarb, sometimes called pie-plant, although it has been 
cultivated to a small extent for centuries, and used for medic- 
inal purposes, has not till quite recently been popularly appre- 
ciated. It certainly deserves a place in every garden. It is a 
native of Asia. Myatt's Victoria, Myatt's Linnaeus, Buist's 
Early Red, and Downing's Colossal are all excellent varieties. 

The soil for rhubarb should be a light loam, rich, and moder- 
ately moist. Bone-dust and guano are excellent special ma- 
nures for it. 

Rhubarb is propagated either by seeds or by division of the 
roots, The latter is, in ordinary cases, the preferable method. 



108 The Garden. 

From ten to twentj plants will be sufficient for a moderate 
family, and these may be had by dividing one or two good 
roots, leaving an eye on each set. The ground should be pre- 
pared in October, by spading it at least eighteen inches deep, 
digging in a large quantity of well-rotted manure, and breaking 
it up thoroughly in the process. Allow it to settle, and then 
plant out your sets two feet apart in the row, and four feet 
between the rows. The crowns or eyes of the sets should be 
about two inches below the surface, and should be immediately 
covered with four or five inches of litter, leaves, or straw, to 
prevent the frost from throwing them out during the winter. 
In this way a crop may be obtained the first year after plant- 
ing. The only after-culture required is to cover the ground 
with a few inches of manure every fall, digging it in with a 
fork in the spring, and keeping the ground free from weeds. 
If you wish to raise it from the seed, sow in the spring, trans- 
plant in the fall, and treat as just directed. You will get new 
varieties. It will be ready for the table in three years. 

To make the edible leaf-stems of your rhubarb grow long 
and tender, place barrels, pots, boxes, and so forth over them 
when they begin to grow in the spring ; but the air and light 
should not be entirely excluded, unless you wish to obtain a 
very mild flavor. 

Khubarb may easily be forced by inverting boxes, pots, or 
half barrels over the plants in the autumn, and afterward cov- 
ering the whole with leaves and hot stable manure. The 
boxes, etc., should be placed over the plants before the ground 
shall be frozen, covering the ground with eight or ten inches 
of litter. The mixture of leaves and manure may be applied 
about the middle of January or the first of February. By 
merely covering your plants with six or eight inches of litter, 
leaves, or almost any dry material, you may forward them from 
seven to ten days, without further trouble. 

To gather, remove a little earth, and, bending down the leaf 
you would remove, slip it ofl:" from the crown without breaking 
or using the knife. The stalks are fit to use when the leaf is 



The Kitchen Garden. 109 

half expanded. A larger, but inferior produce is obtained by 
letting them remain till in full expansion, as is practiced by the 
market-gardeners. 

For use, peel the stem, and cut it into thin slices, and pre- 
pare as you would apples, for pies, tarts, or sauce. The 
English gardeners say, however, that it should be grown so 
quickly and be so tender as to require no peehng. 

8. Paeslet — Apium Petroselinum. 
Parsley is but little cultivated in this country, and is prmci- 
pally used for garnishing. It is a native of Sardinia. The 
curled variety is most worthy of cultivation. Sow in April, 
in drills half an inch deep. It may form an edging around 
beds, borders, or compartments. Prom the long time the seed 
lies in the ground without germinating, it has been said that it 
goes nine times to the devil and back before it comes up! 
These journeys require ordinarily a month or more ; but by 
soaking the seed twenty-four hours before sowing, the process 
is somewhat hastened. When the plants are three or four 
inches high, thin them out to six mches apart. "With a little 
protection, it will grow all winter in this climate. It is 
esteemed by many as a seasoning for stews and soups. 

XI.-SWEET HEKBS, ETC. 

Of the sweet herbs and medicinal plants more or less culti- 
vated in gardens, a brief mention may properly be here made. 
They are generally planted in borders, and, to secure their 
peculiar virtues in perfection, should not be manured. Com- 
mon garden soil is sufficiently rich for most of them. As a 
general rule, they are gathered when in bloom, and carefully 
dried in the shade. 

1. SliruUy Flcmts. — Sage (Salvia officinalis); Winter 
Savoy {Saturica moiitana) ; Rosemary {Bosmarius officinalis) ; 
ThjTiie {Tliymus vulgaris) ; Rue {Ruta graveolens) ; Wormwood 
{Artimesia aisinthium) ; Southernwood (Artimesia alrota- 
num) ; Lavender (Lavendula »pica) ; Hyssop {Eyssopu^ offi&i- 



110 The Garden. 

nalis). The foregoing are all propagated by dividing the roots 
or by cuttings, and require little cultivation, 

2. Perennial Herhaceous Plants. — Peppermint {Mentha 
piperita) ; Spearmint (Mentha viridis) ; Pennyroyal {Mentha 
pulegium) ; Balm {Melissa officinalis) ; Tansy {Tanacetum 'vul- 
garis) ; Burnet {Poterium sanguisorha) ; Chamomile {Anthemis 
nobilis) ; Elecampane {Iluna heliniurri) ; Fennel {Anethum 
fceniculum) ; Thoroughwort or Boneset {Eupatorium perfolia- 
tum) ; Liquorice {Glycirrhiza glalra). These are all increased 
by parting the roots. 

3. Biennial and Annual Plants. — Caraway {Carum carni) ; 
Coriander {Coriandrum sativum) \ Dill {Anethum graveolens); 
Anise {Pimpinella anisum); Sweet Maijoram {Origonum ma- 
jorana)] Summer Savory {Saturega hortensis)\ Sweet Basil 
{Ocimum lasilicum) ; Bush Basil {Ocimum minimum) ; Angelica 
{Angelica archangelica) \ Borage {Borogo officinalis); Hore- 
hound {Marrubium vulgare). All propagated by sowing the 



The Feuit Garden. Ill 



VII. 

THE FRUIT GARDEN. 

But forward In the name of God, graffe, set, plant, and nourish up trees In every corner of 
your grounds, the labour is small, the cost is nothing, the commoditie Is great, yourselves 
shall have plenty, the poore shall have somewhat In time of want to relieve their necessitie, 
and God shall reward your good mindes and diligence.— Gemrde, 

I.-A HINT OE TWO. 

HE lamented Downing says : " He who owns 
a rood of proper land in this country, and, 
in the face of the pomonal riches of the 
day, raises only crabs and choke-pears, 
deserves to lose the respect of all sensible 
men. Yet there are many in utter igno- 
rance of most of the delicious fruits of modern days — 
who seem to live under some ban of expulsion from 
all the fair and goodly productions of the garden." 

Such persons are still to be found, but their number 
Is rapidly decreasing ; and there are few who will not 
thoughtfully heed the quaint exhortation which we have chosen 
for the motto of this chapter. 

After what we have said in our third and fifth chapters 
(which see), but few introductory hints will here be necessary. 
Let it be remembered that the plot set apart for the fruit gar- 
den should be thoroughly prepared before you commence 
planting ; that the soil should be very deep (not less than two 
feet), and thoroughly broken up ; that it must be moderately 
rich ; that it should be well drained if the nature of the soil 
require it, and that a careful attention to the directions we 
have given under the heads of transplanting, budding, grafting, 
pruning, etc., are essential to success. Specific directions, 
when neceesary, will be given under the name of each species. 




112 The Gaeden. 

The best manure for fruit-trees in general is composed of 
about equal parts of meadow mud, muck, or peaty earth, and 
common stable manure. A small quantity of wood-ashes, say 
four bushels to a cart-load of manure, and charcoal-dust in 
about the same ratio, may be intermixed with this composition 
to great advantage. This manure should be prepared and well 
worked over several months before using. Half a peck of 
bone-dust and a little lime, well mixed with the soil when set- 
ting the tree, or from a peck to a bushel of old broken bones, 
put into the bottom of the hole before setting, will be of great 
benefit for years. The general manuring of a fruit garden 
should be performed in autumn ; and the holes for setting out 
the trees in the spring may be dug and filled with compost and 
earth at the same time with decided advantage. Eotted chips 
make an excellent manure for fruit-trees, and may be applied 
either in the holes or as a top-dressing. 

Having set out your trees properly in well-prepared ground, 
the work is rightly 'begun — that is all. If you stop here, you 
might as well have never commenced — nay, better ; for in that 
case you would have saved the cost of the trees and the labor 
of preparing the soil. 

After your trees are planted, it is absolutely essential that 
the ground around tliem shall be Tcept loose and mellow by culti- 
vation. Cultivate potatoes or some other low-growing crop 
between the rows of trees, keeping an area of more than the 
diameter of the head around each tree clear from both the 
crop and the weeds. So far as the tree's roots extend, the 
ground belongs to them, but it must be kept well stirred. 

Newly transplanted trees sometimes, especially if the season 
be uncommonly dry, require watering; but a little water 
poured on the surface never reaches the roots, and, by causing 
the ground to bake, does more harm than good. To produce 
the desired result, take off a few inches of the surface above 
the roots, apply the water, and then replace the earth. 

Mulching is exceedingly beneficial to young fruit-trees, A 
sufficient quantity of straw, litter, leaves, or tan-bark applied 



The Fkuit Gaeden. 113 

in a circle covering the whole area of the roots will tend to 
retain the moisture, and render watering, in ordinary cases, 
unnecessarj. In winter, where the climate is severe, it is still 
more useful, and often saves young trees from entire destruc- 
tion by frost. A small space immediately about the trunk may 
be left uncovered, as it might harbor mice. 

Every spring, wash the bodies of your young trees with soft 
soap, or one of the following preparations : 

1. Dissolve one pound of potash in two gallons and one 
half of water, and then apply with a flat varnish-brush to the 
limbs and trunks of the trees. A varnish-brush is best, as the 
bristles are held together by tin bands on them, and not tied 
together with strmgs, as paint-brushes are, which the potash 
soon cuts through, and the brush falls to pieces. 

2. Mix fresh cow-dung with urine and soap-suds,- and with 
the mixture wash over the stems and branches of the trees as 
you would your room with whitewash, first cutting off the 
cankery parts, and scraping the moss and rough bark off the 
trunks of the trees before applying it. This is pai-ticularly 
applicable to large and old trees. It wiU destroy the eggs of 
insects, and prevent moss growing on the trunks. 

The following, it is said, will prevent rabbits [and probably 
mice] from girdling fruit-trees : 

Make a solution of, say half a pound of tobacco to three 
gallons of water. Mix with clay, a little lime, a little fresh 
cow-dung, and an ounce or two of glue or paste. Thicken to 
the consistency of thick whitewash, and put on with a brush. 

The following is Bridgeman's recipe for causing trees to 
thrive : 

" The ground where they are planted must be- kept well cul- 
tivated. Young trees will not thrive if the grass be permitted 
to form a sod around them ; and if it should be necessary to plant 
them in grass grounds, care must be taken to keep the earth 
mellow and free from grass for three or four feet distant around 
them, and every autumn some well-rotted manure should be 
dug in around each tree, and every spring the bodies of the 



114 



The Garden. 



trees washed or brushed over with common soft-soap, undiluted 
with water. This treatment will give a thriftiness to the trees, 
surpassing the expectation of any one who has not witnessed 
its effect." 

II.— POMACEOUS FKUITS. 

1. The Apple — Pyrus Malus. 
All the varieties of the apple cultivated in this country have 
originated from the small, acid crab-apple of Europe. "When 




cultivated with the same care and skill, it seems to succeed 
even better here than in its native localities. It is well worthy 
to stand at the head of all the fruits of temperate climates. 

The apple-tree requires so much room that, in an ordinary 
garden, we must confine ourselves to a small number. The 
choice of our varieties, then, becomes an important affair, and, 
we may add, a difficult one. « 1. In the first place, the varieties 
are very numerous, being numbered by thousands; 2. Sorts 
which are considered "best" in one section of our widely ex- 



The Fktjit Garden. 115 

tended country, often prove inferior or worthless in another ; 
3. Soil, seasons, and modes of cultivation modify them greatly 
in the same climate ; 4. Many new and apparently excellent 
varieties have not yet been sufficiently tested in reference to 
their adaptation to general cultivation ; 5. Tastes differ widely 
in reference to flavors ; 6. Some sorts are known by from three 
to twenty different names — every neighborhood, almost, having 
its local appellation for them. This last circumstance creates 
great confusion, and renders our recommendation of varieties 
liable to be constantly misunderstood. The reader must make 
the necessary allowances, and modify our lists as the circum- 
stances of his locality, soil, and climate, and his own experi- 
ence and observation may dictate. None but the best should 
be allowed to occupy the limited space of a fruit garden ; so 
we shall name only first-class apples, and our list of them will, 
of course, be far from complete : 

SUMMER APPLES. 

1. Early Harvest— Ahove the medium size; shape round; skin smooth; 
bright straw color; flesh rich, sprightly, sub-acid. It begins to ripen about 
the first of July at the North. The finest early apple yet known. Succeeds 
well in all sections of the United States. 

2. Bed AstracJuin.—Frettj large; roundish; brilliant crimson, with a bloom 
like a plum ; crisp, sub-acid. Showy, and excellent for stewing. Eipens from 
the last of July to the middle of August. Succeeds in the Northern, Middle, 
and Western States. 

3. Large Yellow Boiigh.— "Middle size ; oblong-ovate ; smooth, greenish 
yellow ; tender ; crisp, rich ; sweet. Eipens from the middle of July to the 
tenth of August. Succeeds everywhere. Sometimes known as the Early 
Sweet Bough. 

4. Carolina Red June.—'M.edinxQ. size ; oval ; irregular ; smooth, shaded 
■with deep red, with a purplish hue on the sunny side, and covered with a 
light bloom ; tender, juicy ; briskly sub-acid. Eipens a few days later than 
the Early Harvest. Supposed to have originated in North Carolina. Succeeds 
best Soutli and West. 

5. Stimmer liose. — Under the medium size ; roundish, or slightly flattened ; 
striped with red ; tender ; fine-grained ; mild sub-acid. Eipens through the 
month of August. Pretty, excellent, and much esteemed for a dessert fruit. 
North and West. 

6. £ohannan.— Large, roundish, flattened; fair, shining yellow, with a 
crimson cheek in the sun ; flesh yellow ; tender, juicy, with a flne, spicy, 



116 The Gakden. 

8ub-acid flavor. Eipens in July and August. Originated, we believe, in Ken- 
tucky. Succeeds finely South and "West. 

7. Early Strawberry.— 'Rather small ; roundish ; finely striped and stained 
with bright and dark red on a yellowish-white ground ; tender, sub-acid, 
brisk, with an agreeable aroma. Northern, Middle, and "Western States. 

8. Julian.— Medium size; roundish, rather one-sided; yellowish-white, 
Btriped with carmine ; tender, juicy, and fine-flavored. Southern, but succeeds 
well at the North. Eipens about the middle of July in Georgia. 

9. Golden Sweet.— AboYe the medium size; roundish; well formed; straw 
color; very sweet and rich. The tree grows freely, and is a great bearer. 
August and September. Eastern. 

10. WilUani's i^aforzYe.— Medium ; oblong ; a little one-sided ; very smooth ; 
light red ground, nearly covered with a fine dark red ; mild and agreeable. 
It requires a strong, rich soil, and does not succeed in all localities. Eipens 
last of July. New England. 

AUTUMN APPLES. 

1. Fall Pippin. — Very large ; roundish ; generally a little flattened ; smooth ; 
yellowish-green ; very tender, rich, aromatic. October to December. In the 
Middle States is considered the best of all the autumn apples. At the North 
it becomes a winter apple, and at the South, where it also succeeds well, a 
summer apple.* It is a universal favorite. 

. 2. Porter. — Eather large; oblong; regular, narrowing to the eye; glossy, 
bright yellow, with a dull blush on the sunny side ; fine-grained, juicy, rather 
acid. September. New England ; but succeeds in all the Northern and "West- 
ern States. 

3. Gra'venstein. — Large ; a little flattened ; slightly one-sided, broadest at 
the base ; yellow, striped and marbled with deep red and orange ; juicy, very 
rich, crisp, aromatic. September and October. A German apple, and one of 
the few European sorts that fully sustain their reputation here. Succeeds in 
the Northern, Middle, "Western, and some of the Southern States. 

4. Pambo.— Medium ', flat; yellowish-white; striped and marbled rough red 
spots; mild but sprightly sub-acid. October to December. Originated in 
Pennsylvania. Very popular throughout the West. 

5. Pomme de Neige\. — Medium ; roundish ; somewhat flattened ; pale yel- 
low ground, with faint streaks of pale red, becoming bright and deep on the 
sunny side ; very tender ; juicy ; slightly perfumed. Eipens in October and 
November. A handsome dessert fruit. Canada, Very valuable for North. 

6. Bachelor. — Very large ; roundish; flattened a little, broader at the base ; 
lemon yellow, tinged with lively red in the sun ; fine-grained, juicy, very 
agreeable sub-acid. "A magnificent fruit." November. North Carolina. 
Very fine for most of the Southern States. 

* It may here be added that all the autumn apples of the North become 
summer apples so far south as Georgia. 
+ Downing ; the Fameuse of the Am. Pomological Society's List. 



The Fkuit Garden. 117 

7. Haskell Sweet— Jj&r^e, or very large ; flattish ; greenish yellow, with a 
blush on the sunny side ; tender, sweet, rich. Not widely proved. Succeeds 
admirably in Massachusetts and New York. September. 

8. Mai'J ell's Blush. — Medium ; flat ; smooth, fair, clear ; lemon yellow, 
" with a colored cheek, sometimes delicately tinted, like a blush, and in others 
of a brilliant red ;" tender, brisk, sub-acid. Excellent for cooking and drying. 
Both the tree and the fruit are very beautiful. From August to October. Ori- 
gin New Jersey. 

9. Fall Queen of Kentucky.— Jjarge ; oblate ; slightly one-sided ; yellow, 
striped and marbled with crimson, and sprinkled with brown and white dots ; 
crisp, tender, juicy, brisk ; mild sub-acid. Much esteemed at the South and 
Southwest. Awinter apple at the North. 

10. Summer Sweet J'aradtse.—Qaite large; roundish ; pale green, becoming 
yellowish ; sweet, rich, aromatic. Very fine. The tree is an abundant bearer. 
August and September. Pennsylvania. Not widely proved. 



WINTER APPLES. 

1. N'tU'toicn Pippin. — Medium size ; roundish ; a little irregular ; yellowish 
green, with a bi'ownish blush on one side ; juicy, crisp, fine-grained, high fla- 
vored, delicious. December to May. The best of all apples, whether native 
or foreign— acknowledged to be so in Europe. Succeeds well in New York 
and the Middle and Western States, but poorly in New England. The Yellow 
Xewtmcn Pippin differs but slightly from the foregoing, but is rather hardier. 

2. ^t/Wzi'i?i.— Rather large ; roundish ; dull, yellowish red ; rich, mild sub- 
acid. November to March. Massachusetts. The best of the New England 
apples. Succeeds well in many localities out of New England, but not in all. 
At the South it becomes a summer apple. 

3. /Swaa;-.— Above medium, roundish ; rich yellow ; fine-grained, tender, 
compact, very rich, mild, aromatic. December to March. New York. One 
of the finest-flavored of American apples. Does not succeed in damp, cold 
soils. Is successful in some parts of the West, but not generally in New En- 
gland. 

4. Ilubhardsion Xonsuch.—'LargQ \ roundish-oblong; yelloAvish ground, 
with pale and bright red stripes; tender, juicy, mild, very agreeable. October 
to January. New England. 

5. Yelloio Belle-Jleur. — Large ; oblong ; irregular ; pale lemon yellow, with 
a blush next the sun ; tender, juicy, crisp, sprightly sub-acid. November to 
March. Succeeds in most of the Northern, Middle, and Western States, but 
fails in some localities. Called Belle-fieur (beautiful flower) from the beauty 
of its blossoms. 

6. 5e/7»o??^.— Medium or large; globular; yellow, often with a Vermillion 
cheek ; tender, juicy, sometimes almost melting; mild, agreeable. November 
to February. Ohio and the Middle States. 

7. i)/««{7?«??.— Medium ; oblate ; slightly conic ; " yellowish, mostly striped 
and shaded with red, thickly sprinkled with whitish and bronze dots ;" very 



118 The Garden. 

tender, juicy, mild, sub-acid ; excellent. Southern. Eipens in October and 
November. 

8. 3/elo}i.— Full medium ; roundish, slightly conical ; striped with red ; very 
juicy ; mild, sub-acid ; spicy ; very agreeable. Considered by many as the 
best of all table apples. October to March. Western New York. 

9. Pryor-s jBerf.— Eather large; roundish; irregular; dull brick red and 
russet ; tender, mild, agreeable, January to March. Excellent for the "West 
and South. 

10. Rhode Inland Greem)ig.—l.arge ; flattish ; rich, greenish yellow when 
exposed ; tender, rich, rather acid. . Adapted to New York and New England. 

11. Equintelij. — Large ; oblate, conic, angular, slightly oblique ; whitish yel- 
low, mostly overspread with a beautiful crimson, and thinly sprinlded with 
whitish dots; very tender, almost melting; juicy, mild, sub-acid; excellent. 
Southern. November to May. 

12. Westfield Seek-no-Further.— Large, round ; pale, dull red, over a clouded 
green ground ; fine-grained, tender, spicy, rich. Very fine for all the Northern 
States. October to February. 

13. Lady Ap2:>le.— Small, flat, regular; smooth, glassy, brilliant; deep-red 
cheek on a lemon-yellow ground ; crisp, tender, very juicy, pleasant. Hardy 
and very beautiful. December to May. 

14. Roxbury Russet. — Medium or large ; roundish, a little flattened ; dull 
green, covered with a brownish-yellow russet ; moderately juicy, rather rich, 
sub-acid. An excellent keeper. Massachusetts. January to June. Does not 
succeed in all localities. 

15. 3fonmo7ith Pippin. — Large, roundish, flat; smooth, russety-green, 
marked with dots; crisp, juicy, high-flavored. In use from November to 
March. New Jersey. 

16. Nakojack. — Yery large, flattened ; yellowish green, striped and splashed 
with red, and sprinkled with minute white specks ; juicy, tender, brisk, acid. 
North Carolina. One of the very best Southern winter apples. 

IT. Cullasaga.— Large, regular, slightly conical ; yellow, with fine crimson 
stripes; pleasant, sub-acid, aromatic. Keeps well. North Carolina. Excel- 
lent for all the Southern States. 

18. Ortley. — Medium to very large, ovate or conic ; yellow, sometimes with 
a sunny cheek ; tender, fine-grained, juicy, sub-acid, very pleasant. In use 
from November to February. Highly esteemed and very popular at the "West. 
Does not succeed so well at the East. 

19. Golden Pippin. — Large, oblate, globular ; golden yellow, sprinkled 
with dots, and sometimes slightly netted with russet ; tender, juicy, almost 
melting, rich, refreshing, vinous, aromatic. November to February. Best 
known in "Westchester County, New York, where it is very popular. Hardy 
and productive. 

20. Esopus Spitzenherg.— Large, oblong, tapering to the eye ; rich, lively 
red, dotted with russet dots, and on the shady side a yellowish ground, with 
broken streaks of red ; firm, crisp, juicy, rich, brisk, delicious. December to 
February. Unsurpassed as a dessert fruit. Does not succeed in all localities. 
New York. 



The Fruit Gaeden. 119 

21. Ladies'' Sweeting.— TilLeAiMm or large, roundish-ovate ; bright red ; crisp, 
tender, juicy, sweet, delicious, agreeably perfumed. "Will keep till May. 
Downing considers it the flnest winter sweet apple for the dessert yet known 
in this country. New York. 

22. Danvers'' Winter Sweet.— Above the medium, roundish, a little conical ; 
light yellow, often with a handsome blush ; sweet, rich. Good to bake. Keeps 
till April. Massachusetts. Succeeds in all the Northern and Middle States. 

23. jBroadweU.-JjaTge, oblate, somewhat conic; greenish yellow, with a 
blush; tender, juicy, sweet, aromatic. November to March. Ohio. New, 
but excellent for the "West and Southwest. 

24. Cainak''8 Sweet. — Medium to large, roundish, conical; whitish green, 
mottled with green russet, with a fine blush or red cheek toward the sun ; firm, 
juicy, scarcely sweet, aromatic, fine flavored. In use from November to May. 
Southern. Origin, North Carolina. 

25. Dutchess County Sweeting.— 'L&rge, or very large ; bright yellow, with 
brown specks, and often with a bright blush on the sunny side ; juicy, rich, 
tender, sugary. October to April. Dutchess County, New York. Seems to 
be a new variety. Charles Downing pronounces it one of the best of sweet 
apples.* 

We must leave tlie reader to select from the foregoing forty- 
five varieties, and such others as he may add to them, the five 
or six or more sorts that he may require for a garden, hoping 
that ho will find the task a less difficult one than -we have 
found ours. 

Of crab apples, the Siberian Eed and the Siberian Yellow 
are the proper kinds for a garden. They are used for preserv- 
ing. The Red makes a very ornamental tree. 

Apple-trees should be planted thirty feet apart each way. 
As special manure, lime and ashes are indicated. About half 
a peck of each, applied annually to each tree, will be useful. 

In common management, apple-trees in general bear only 
alternate years, which are called their bearing years ; but by 
thinning out half the blossoms on the bearing year, you may 
easily have about an equal quantity of fruit every season. The 
bearing year may be entirely changed, by taking off all the 
blossoms or young fruit on that year, and allowing them to 
remain on the year which we wish to make the bearing one. 

To preserve winter apples, gather them carefully by hand on 

* Correspondent of Country Gentleman, 



120 



The Garden, 



a dry day ; lay them gently by hand twelve or fourteen inches 
deep on the floor of a cool, dry room, and let them diy and 
season there for three weeks. Then carefully take them up, 
on a clear day, and pack them by hand in clean, dry barrels, 
filling the barrels so full that a gentle pressure will be necessary 
in order to head them up. 

Smaller quantities may be put up in common, tight, wooden 
buckets. The best place for keeping them is a dry, airy room or 
cellar, of which the temperature ranges from 35° to 45° Fahr. 
Thomas recommends packing alternate layers of apples and 

dry chaff mixed with 
a small portion of dry, 
pulverized lime. Ap- 
ples for exportation 
are often wrapped each 
one separately in clean, 
soft, coarse paper, like 
oranges, and then put 
up in boxes or barrels, 
as above directed. 

2. The Pear— Py- 
TU8 Communis. 

The pear is second 
only to the apple in 
general utility, and 
superior to that fruit 
in delicacy and flavor. 
The pear was culti- 
vated so long ago as 
the earliest times of 
the Komans, but it is 
only in modern times 
that it has reached a 

high degree of those delicious qualities for which it is now so 

much esteemed. 




MADELEINE 



The Fkuit Garden. 121 

The task of selecting varieties of the pear is still more diffi- 
cult than in the case of the apple. They are subject to greater 
variation under the influences of climate, soil, and culture, and 
the status of each sort is less easily determined. We shall 
make our list brief, admitting only well-tested sorts. 

SUMMER PEAKS. 

1. Mad€lei7ie.--'MLedmm. size ; yellowish green ; juicy, delicate, slightly per- 
fumed. Eipens from the middle to the last of July. Originated in France. 
Succeeds everywhere. 

2. Doyenne cfEte (Summer Doyenne).— Small; yellow, shaded with bright 
red ; juicy, melting, sweet, pleasant flavor. A little later than the Madeleine. 
France. 

3. jB?oo(7^oo(7.— Medium ; yellow-russety; buttery, melting, rich, sugary, 
highly aromatic, perfumed. August. The highest flavored of all the early 
pears. Long Island. Succeeds everywhere. 

4. jBos^ieser.— Scarcely medium ; dull yellow, mixed with reddish-brown on 
the sunny side ; buttery, very sugary ; vinous, aromatic, perfumed. Middle of 
August. Foreign. Almost equal to the Seckel in flavor. Universally esteemed 
and successful. 

5. Dearborn's ^eetZ?/?!^'.— Scarcely medium; light yellow; very juicy, melt- 
ing, sweet and brisk in flavor. August. Massachusetts. Succeeds in all 
climates. 

6. Julienne.— ^m&W ; clear, bright yellow ; half butterj', sweet, moderately 
juicy. August. Foreign (?). Very productive. Eequires warm, dry soils. 
Succeeds best at the South. 

AUTrMX PEAKS. 

1. Bartlett.—LQ.rge ; clear yellow, with a blush on the sunny side; fine- 
grained, buttery, juicy, sweet, vinous, highly perfumed. August and Septem- 
ber. England. A noble fruit, and has no competitor in the market at its 
season. Belongs both to the summer and autumn lists. 

2. Seckel.— ^m^M ; yellowish-brown, with a russety red cheek ; very juicy 
and melting, with a peculiarly rich, spicy flavor and aroma. It ripens gradu- 
ally in the house from the end of August to the last of October. American. 
For flavor, it stands at the head of all pears, whether native or foreign. 

8. Fondante d'Automne (Belle Lucrative). — Medium, yellowish-green, 
slightly russeted ; exceedingly juicy, melting, sugary, rich, and delicious. Last 
of September. Belgium. Scarcely inferior to the Seckel in flavor. Does not 
succeed in all localities and seasons. Excellent in the South. 

4. Crr&««i«<6.— Medium ; pale yellow, with gray dots ; juicy, melting, deli- 
cious, delicately perfumed. October ; will keep till December in the house. 
Belgium. Especially adapted to the Middle States. 

5. FlemUh Beauty.— 'L&rgQ; reddish-brown russet; juicy, melting, sweet, 

6 



122 The Garden. 

rich, excellent. Last of September. Belgium. Should be picked before fully 
mature, and ripened in the house. Does not succeed in all localities. 

6. Bio:. — Large; deep yellow, with russet dots ; juicy, melting, rich, sugary, 
slightly perfumed. Massachusetts. October and November. American. 

7. — Louise Bonne de, Jersey. — Large; pale green, with a brov,'nish-red 
blush ; very juicy and melting, rich, excellent. Not the very best in point of 
flavor, but very hardy and productive. Excellent for cooking. Succeeds best 
on the quince. France. Eipens in September and October. 

8. Beurre ^o.sc— Large ; dark yellow, with cinnamon russet streaks and 
dots ; melting, very buttery, rich, delicious, perfumed. September and Octo- 
ber. Belgium. 

9. White Doyenne. (Virgalieu). — Medium or large; pale yellow, sprinkled 
"With dots; melting, buttery, rich, high flavored, delicious. September. 
France. Does not succeed in all localities. 

10. Oray Doyenne. — Medium ; cinnamon russet ; resembles the White Doy- 
enne in flavor. October. A good keeper. France. 

WINTER PEAES. 

1. Winter Ntlis. — Medium ; yellowish-green, dotted and streaked with rus- 
seft ; very juicy, fine-grained, melting, buttery, rich, sugary, aromatic, delicious. 
Keeps till the middle of January. Almost equal to the Seckel in flavor. Bel- 
gium. Succeeds everywhere. 

2. Lawrence. — Medium or large ; lemon-yellow, with brown dots ; somewhat 
buttery ; rich, aromatic, excellent. Early winter. Long Island. Succeeds 
everywhere. 

3. East r Beurre. — Large; yellowish-green; juicy, buttery, sweet, rich, deli- 
cious. Keeps till spring. It requires high culture and a warm situation at the 
North. Succeeds best at the South. Foreign. 

4. Glou-3forceau*. — Eather large ; greenish-yellow ; fine-grained, melting, 
buttery, rich, sugary. December. Belgium. Does not succeed in heavy, cold 
soils. Excellent at the South. 

5. Vicar of Winkjffeld.— 'Large, long ; pale yellow ; juicy, sometimes buttery ; 
good, sprightly flavor. November to January. France. Only second-rate for 
the table, but most excellent for cooking. Yery hardy and productive. 

6. Prince's St. Germain. — Medium ; brownish-russet over a green ground, 
becoming red next the sun; melting, juicy, sweet, somewhat vinous, very 
agreeable. Will keep till March. Long Island. 

The best soil for the pear is a strong loam on a dry subsoil. 
It requires the same manure as the apple, with the addition of 
a larger quantity of ashes or potash in some other form. Set 
standard trees twenty feet apart each way ; dwarfs from ten to 

* Downing; the Beurre d'^Areniberg of the French, and so named in the 
lists of the American Pomologieal Society. 



The Fkuit Garden. 123 

twelve. Give bearing trees a moderate top-dressing of manure 
every autumn. Pear-trees require comparatively little pruning. 

To dwarf the pear, it is grafted on Anger's quince stocks. 
The fniit produced by trees thus grafted is usually better than 
that of those on the pear stock. They also come into bearing 
sooner, and take up less room in the garden ; but they are not 
so long-lived as on the pear. Quince-bottomed pear-trees must 
be very carefully cultivated. They will not bear neglect. 
They should be headed-in more or less every year. 

"Winter pears are all necessarily ripened in the house ; and 
nearly all summer pears, and a very large proportion of the 
autumn varieties, are greatly improved by ripening them in the 
house also. As a general rule, take summer and early autumn 
pears from the trees, just when some of the earlier full-grown 
specimens begin to ripen. Gather them carefully by hand in a 
dry day, spread them on the shelves of your fruit-room^ or 
upon the floor of a cool, dry chamber. Here they will ripen 
by degrees, and without further care. 

Late autumn and winter pears should also be gathered very 
carefully by hand, in dry weather. Put them away very care- 
fully, so as not to bruise or indent them in the least, in tight, 
clean wooden boxes, buckets, or barrels, and keep them in a 
cool, dry, airy room or cellar, of which the temperature shall 
be from about 38° to 45o Fahr. Examine them occasionally, 
and if they should be sweating, take them out carefully, and 
dry them on the floor, removing any that may have begun to 
decay, and re-packing them as before. About ten days before 
their usual time of ripening, bring them into a warm room. 
The result of this process will surprise, as well as gratify, one 
who has never tried it. 

3. The Quixce — Gijdonia Vulgaris. 
This tree is a native of Germany. It was cultivated, and its 
fruit much esteemed by the Greeks and Pwomans. It was used 
by them, as by the moderns, for preserving. There are only 
two varieties deserving of culture. 



124 The Garden. 

1. The, Apple-Shaped (Orange Quince).— Large, roundish, shaped like an 
apple ; a fine golden color ; stews tender ; flavor excellent. 

2. Portugal.— Very large, oblong ; color not so deep as the foregoing ; very 
fine flavor. The flesh turns purple or a deep crimson when cooked. It is su- 
perior to the Apple-Shaped, but less productive. 

The quince is easily propagated from seeds, layers, or cut- 
tings. A moist, strong soil suits the quince, as it grows natu- 
rally along the borders of streams. Set the trees ten feet 
apart, and give them the same cultivation as the apple and the 
pear. Little pruning is required, except to improve the form 
of the head. 

III.— STONE FEUITS. 

1. The Peach — Persica Vulgaris. 

The peach derives its name from Persia (It. persica^ Fr. 
pecher\ from which country it originated. It is now culti- 
vated to a greater extent in the United States than in any other 
country in the world. In its perfection, it does not yield the 
palm to any other fruit. A Seckel would hardly tempt us to 
lay aside a Rareripe. 

The varieties of the peach are very numerous. The few we 
name are all of a very high order of merit. We place them 
so nearly as possible in the order of their ripening : 

FEEESTONE PEACHES. 

1. Early Tillotson.—'KGidmm size ; red ; juicy, rich, high flavored. Does not 
succeed in all localities at the North. Excellent generally at the South. Orig- 
inated in New York. 

2. Columhus tTitne.— Medium ; yellowish-white ; high flavored ; excellent. 
Southern. 

3. Early 5 orA;.— Medium ; pale red ; tender, melting, juicy. A universal 
favorite. England. 

4. Early Newin gton Freestone. — Large ; pale yellowish-white ; juicy, melt- 
ing, vinous. Without a superior at its season. American. 

5. Grosse Mignonne. — Large ; pale greenish-yellow ; rich, vinous, high fla- 
vored. World-renowned and excellent everywhere. France. 

6. Cooledge''8 Fa/vorite. — Medium; red; juicy, rich, sweet, high flavored. 
Popular in New England. Very valuable for the North. 

7. George the Fourth.— Large ; pale yellowish-white; melting, very Juicy 
remarkably rich, delicious. The very best in its season. Succeeds every- 
where. New York. 



The Fruit Garden. 125 

8. White Imperial.— "Rather large ; yellowish-white ; delicate, sweet, juicy, 
delicioua. Fine at the North. New York. 

9. Br&voort — Medium to large ; yellowish-white ; rich, sugary, high flavored. 
Excellent in nearly all localities. New York. 

10. Crawford's Earli/.—Yery large ; yellow ; yellow-fleshed ; melting, rich, 
sweet ; very excellent. Universally esteemed, and successful everywhere. 

11. Bergen Yelloic— Very large; deep orange, with red dots; flesh yellow, 
juicy, melting, rich, luscious. Long Island. 

12. JHecl Ha reripe.— Rather large; white, mottled with red— cheek dark, 
rich red ; very rich and high flavored. Very flne. American. 

13. Morris White. — Eather large ; pale, creamy white ; juicy, sweet, and 
rich. A favorite sort in the Middle States; not so good at the North. Penn- 
sylvania. 

14. Ifohlesse.—'Large • pale green, marked on the cheek with delicate red, 
clouded with darker red ; very juicy and very highly flavored ; luscious. Orig- 
inated in England. 

15. Oldniixon Freestone. — Large ; yellowish, marbled with red, and a deep 
red cheek ; rich, sugary, vinous. American. 

16. Late Red Bareripe.—'Large ; grayish-yellow, thickly marbled with red- 
dish spots, and with a dull-red cheek ; luscious and high flavored. Unsur- 
passed at its season ; a universal favorite. American. 

IT. Druid mil. — Large ; pale greenish-white, clouded with red on the 
sunny side ; exceedingly rich and high flavored. One of the best of the late 
varieties. Maryland. 

18. Crawford's Zate.—Yerj large ; deep yellow, with a red cheek ; rich and 
juicy. Succeeds everywhere. New Jersey. 

19. Henry Clay.— Very large ; deep purple in the sun, shading to bright 
pink and creamy white; delicate, tender; flavor peculiar, partaking slightly 
of the pineapple and the strawberry. Mississippi. 

20. Late Admirable.— Very large; pale yellowish-green, with a pale red 
cheek ; very juicy, melting, and of a delicate, exquisite flavor. Everywhere 
successful and excellent. France. 



CLINGSTONES. 

1. Oldmixon Cling.— "Large', yellowish-white, with a dotted red cheek; 
juicy, rich, excellent. Should have a place in every garden North and South. 
Origin, England. 

2. Large White Clingstone.— "Large; white, dotted with red on the sunny 
side ; very juicy, tender, and luscious ; high flavored. Next to the preceding 
in value. New York. 

3. Heath.— Very large ; creamy white, with a faint blush of red on the sunny 
side ; tender, melting, very juicy, with the richest, highest, and most luscious 
flavor. Where it will succeed, the best of all the clingstone peaches. Will 
seldom ripen in New England. Succeeds well in Southern New York and the 
Middle and Southern States. Maryland. 



126 The Garden. 

4. fforton''s DeUcious.— Large ; creamy -white, with a faint blush toward the 
sun ; flavor like the Heath. New, but excellent. Georgia. 

5. Lemon Clingstvne.—'L&vge ; fine yellow, with a brownish, red cheek ; 
rich, sprightly, vinous, sub-acid; flesh yellow. Best of the yellow -fleshed 
clings. South Carolina. 

Set peach-trees about sixteen feet apart each way. Bone- 
dust and wood-ashes are the special manures most Ukelj to be 
serviceable to them. 

The peach is somewhat dwarfed and rendered hardier in a 
northern climate by grafting on a plum stock. It requires but 
little pruning, except "shortening-in," which should be done 
early in the spring every year so long as the tree lives. Out 
off half the last year's growth over the whole outside of the 
tree. This method will increase the size and value of the fruit, 
and cause the tree to live and continue in bearing several yeai'S 
longer than under the old system. 

Every one who cultivates peaches should preserve a quantity 
for winter use, either in air-tight cans or by drying, 

2. The IsTectaeine — Persica Vulgaris Lcevis. 
The nectarine is only a distinct accidental variety of the 
peach with a smooth skin. The well-known Boston nectarine 
originated from a peach-stone. Soil, manure, and culture are 
the same as for the peach. It is a beautiful fruit, but, on ac- 
count of its liability to be destroyed by the curculio, is little 
cultivated. Good crops are rare. 

1. JTimfs Tawny. — Medium; pale orange, with a dark red cheek; very 
good. The best early variety. England. 

2. Violet Ildtive (Early Violet).— Kathcr large; pale, yeUowish-green in the 
ghade, but when exposed of a dark, purplish red ; very rich and highly flavored. 
The best of all nectarines. France. 

3. Elrnge. — Medium ; purplish red, like the Violet Haltive, but may be read- 
ily distinguished from the latter by the pale color of its stone ; rich and high 
flavored. Excellent. England. 

4. i>tiw 'if o».— Intermediate between the Violet Hative and the Elruge. 
Very good. 

5. StanwicTc—A. new and highly extolled variety from England. Eequires 
hot-house culture at the North. Will probably be found adapted to the South. 



The Fruit Garden. 127 

3. The Apeicot — Armeniaca Vulgaris. 

The apricot is a native of central Asia, and is the most beau- 
tiful of all the stone fruits. It ripens about midsummer, or 
immediately after the cherries. In this country it may be cul- 
tivated in the open air, in almost any locality south of Massa- 
chusetts. Like the nectarine, it is very liable to be destroyed 
by the curculio. Let the poultry or pigs have access to the 
trees when the fruit begins to di'op. 

The apricot is generally budded on the plum stock. It 
should be placed on a north, east, or west aspect, and be pro- 
tected by a wall or fence. It requires no pruning. The best 
varieties are the Large Early, 
Early Golden, Breda, Moorpark, 
and Hemshirke. 

4. The Plum — Prunus Domes- 
tica. 

Several varieties of the plum 
are found growing wild in this 
country, but the original parent 
of most of our cultivated sorts is 
supposed to have been brought 
from Asia. The varieties are nu- geees-&age plum. 

merous. The Green Gage, an old English plum, stiU keeps its 
place, in popular estimation, at the head of the list ; but for a 
single variety, we should choose the Jefferson. The following 
is Downing's selection of choice varieties : 

1. Rivers'' Early Favorite.— 'First of August. Foreign. 

2. Green Gage. — Middle of August. Foreign. 
8. Impenal Ottojnan.— Last of July. Foreign. 

4. Jefferson (the plum of plums),— Last of August. American. 

5. Latorence^s Favorite.— iA\M\e of August. American. 

6. Purple Favorite. — August. American. 

7. Purple Gage. — September. Foreign. 

8. Coe's Golden Drop.— 'Last of September. Foreign. 

9. MeLaugJdin.—'Lnst of August. American. 

10. Imperial Gage.— First of September. Americaa. 

11. Roward'n Favorite.— Septemher. American. 




128 The Garden. 

12. Prince''s Yelloio Gage.— Y'rrs.i of August. American. 

13. Prune d^Angen.—La%i of September. Foreign. 

14. Eeine Claude de Bevay. — September. Foreign. 

15. Schuyler Gage.— Last of September. American. 

The "best soil for the plum is a strong l®ani on a dry subsoil'; 
but it will grow in any tolerably fertile soil. An annual top- 
dressing of common salt will be found very useful, not only 
promoting the growth of the tree, but driving away most of 
the insects to which it is liable. The trees should be set about 
sixteen feet apart each way. The great enemy of the plum is 
the curculio, against which you must wage a 
war of extermination. 

The plum is generally propagated by bud- 
ding, but may be grafted with success, if the 
operation be skillfully and carefully per- 
formed. Little pruning is necessary, except 
when the tree is young, to improve the form 
of the head. 

5. The Cheeey — Cerasus 8yhestris et C. 
Vulgaris. 

The cherry was brought originally from 
Asia by the Eoraan general Lucullus, and 
OHIO BEAUTY. ^as bccu in cultivation in Europe for more 
than eighteen hundred years. It was introduced into America 
on the first settlement of the country. There are more than a 
hundred varieties. We submit the following selection of choice 
sorts, which we name nearly in the order of ripening. 

HEAET AND BIGAEEEAU CHEEEIES. 

1. Early Purple Guigne.— Color nearly black ; juicy ; sweet ; very early. 

2. JSelle d'' Orleans {FiexKih).— Tale red; excellent. 
8. Governor Wood.— Light red ; fine flavored. 

4. Coe^-s Transjyoi^ent.—'Pale reddish-amber; sweet. 

5. KnighVs Early Black.— B^ieh and high flavored. 

6. Big arreaxi.*—F ale whitish yellow ; rich, sweet, delicious. 




* Yellow Spanish or Graffion of most American gardens. 



The Fuuit Gakden. 129 

7. Elton.— YeWovr, marked with red ; high flavored. 

8. Delicate.— Amber yellow, with a red cheek ; rich and sweet. 

9. Dcnonton.—'L\g\xi yellow ; delicious. 

10. D&wner^ Late.—Boft, lively red ; melting, luscious. 

DUKE AND MOEELLO CHEEEIES. 

1. 3/ay Z>MA;e. -Nearly black ; rich, acid ; very hardy ; best of its kind. 

2. Belle de Chois}/.— Yellowish red ; delicate, sub-acid. 
8. Xentish.— Bright red ; rich, brisk, acid ; very hardy. 

4. Beine B^of^tense.— Bright red, marbled ; like the May Duke in flavor. 

5. Belle Ma g7ii/ique.— Bright red ; juicy, brisk, sub-acid. 

The Dukes and Morellos are hardier than the Hearts and 
Bigarreaus, and succeed better in both extremes of chmate — 
JTorth and South. Next to these are the Early Purple Guigne, 
Elton, and Downer's Late. 

All sorts of cherries are generally worked on Black Kazzard 
stocks. They may be either budded or grafted. Set the trees 
from sixteen to twenty feet apart, and cultivate the same as 
the plum. 

6. The Oliye — Olea Furopea. 

The olive should be more widely cultivated in the Southern 
States. The seaboard States of the 
South are well adapted to its cul- 
ture. It will thrive farther north 
than the orange. It is a low ever- 
green tree, and commences bearing 
in five or six years after being 
planted. The oil is made by crush- 
ing the fruit to a paste, and pressing 
it through a coarse, hempen bag, 
into hot water, from the surface of 
which the oil is skimmed off. The ^"-'^^ beanch and fetjit. 
common European olive is the best variety for general cultiva- 
tion. It is propagated by means of little knots or tumors, 
which form on the bai-k of the trunk, and are easily cut out 
with a penknife. These are planted in the soil like bulbs. It 
may also be propagated by cuttings or seeds. 

6* 




130 The Gakden. 

iv.-the oeange family. 
1. The Oeaxge — Citrus Aurantum. 

This delicious tropical fruit is successfully cultivated in Flor- 
ida, and to some extent in Louisiana, Texas, Georgia, South 
Carolina, and other Southern States. With only slight protec- 
tion, it will succeed so far north as Baltimore. Of the sweet 
orange, which alone is worthy of garden cultivation, the hest 
varieties are the Havana or Common Sweet, the Maltese, the 
Blood Red, the Mandarin, and the St. Michael. 

The orange requires a deep, rich loam. To procure stocks 
for budding with the sweet varieties, sow early in the spring 
the seeds of the wild, bitter orange of Florida. They may be 
budded the same or the next season. 

The great foe of the orange-tree is the scale insect (Coccus 
Hesperidum), but the common chamomile is found to be a spe- 
cific against it. This herb, in bunches, hung on the branches 
of the trees, drives it away, and by cultivating the plant about 
the roots of the tree, it is protected against its attacks. 

2. The Lemox — Gitrua Limonum. 
The lemon is cultivated like the orange. Besides the com- 
mon lemon, there is an Italian variety called the 
Sweet Lemon. The lime, the citron, and the 
shaddock belong to the same family, and are 
subject to the same culture. 




v.— THE BEREIED FETJITS. 

1. The Geape — Vitis of species. 
The grape should undoubtedly head the list 
of berried fruits. It has been cultivated from 
the earliest ages, and in almost every country in the temperate 
zones. The varieties cultivated in Europe are all of one species 
( Vitis mniferd)^ and originated in Asia. Our native grapes are 
of different species. 



The Feuit Garden. 131 

The foreign grapes do not succeed in this country in open-air 
culture. The Black Burgundy' and the Sherry may perhaps 
be considered as partial exceptions at the South. Under glass 
they may be successfully cultivated in all parts of the United 
States; but as our plan does not embrace hot-house cultiva- 
tion, we must refer the reader to Chorlton's " Grape Grower's 
Guide," and other works devoted specially to grape culture. 
Our list will embrace only native sorts. 

1. Isadella.— Bunches of good size; berries oval, rather large; skin nearly 
black, covered with a blue bloom ; flesh tender, juicy, sweet, rich ; slightly 
musky. Hardy and productive. Origin, South Carolina. Succeeds every- 
where. 

2. Catatcia.— Bunches medium; berries pretty large, round, or slightly 
oval ; pale red in the shade, but deep red next the sun, with a lilac bloom ; 
juicy, sweet, rich, musky, aromatic. Hardy, productive, and succeeds in all 
localities adapted to grape culture. Maryland. 

8. jyiana. — Eesembles the Catawba, of which it is a seedling, but is earlier 
and more beautiful. Color a fine reddish lilac, covered with bloom ; juicy, 
vinous, aromatic. It originated in Massachusetts, but succeeds even better at 
the South than at the North. 

4. Bebecca.— Branches cylindric, very compact, heavy; berries full medium, 
oval ; light green in the shade, auburn or golden toward the sun, and covered 
with a light bloom ; juicy, sweet, delicious. It ripens ten days earlier than the 
Isabella, and keeps well. Hardy and productive. New. Has not been ex- 
tensively proved. New York. 

5. Scuppernong. — Bunches small, loose; berries large, round; juicy and 
sweet; very musky. Found growing wild from Virginia to Florida. It is a 
distinct species, quite unlike the other cultivated sorts. Excellent at the South. 
Does not succeed north of Virginia. 

6. Concord.— Bxmch large, compact; berries large, globular; almost black, 
thickly covered with bloom ; sweet and juicy. Hardier and earlier than the 
Isabella, but not quite equal to the latter in flavor. Best for the most northern 
range of the grape. 

7. Herhemont.— Bunch very large, compact, shouldered ; berries below me- 
dium, round ; dark blue, or violet, with a thick, light bloom ; skin thin, and 
filled with a sweet, rich, vinous, aromatic juice, of so little consistence that it 
can hardly be called flesh. In favorable localities, one of the best of our na- 
tive grapes. North of Philadelphia it succeeds only in warm exposures and 
favorable seasons. It is probably of Southern origin. 

"Were we to add to the foregoing list, we should name the 
Delaware, the Bland, and the To-Kalon, all good varieties. 
The grape will succeed in most soils, if properly prepared ♦ 



132 



The Gaeden, 



but dry, ricli loam is preferable. It must be deeply worked, 
and, if at all wet, thoroughly underdrained. Lime, ashes, 
plaster of Paris, and bone-dust may be added to the common 
compost, or used as a top-dressing with great advantage. 
Choose a warm, sunny exposure for your grapery. In the 
shade the fruit is liable to mildew. 

All the varieties of the native grape are very readily propa- 
gated by means of layering, and most of them will grow from 
cuttings. Cuttings — unless struck where they are to remain, 
which is the better plan— should be left where they are started 
for two years before planting out. Layers may be planted out 
the first year. Set the plants from twelve to twenty feet apart, 
according to the height of the trellis and the mode of training 
to be adopted. When planted, cut them down to about two 
eyes from the ground, and allow only one of these to grow the 
following season. 

In garden culture, grapevines are trained in various ways, as 
fancy or convenience may dictate. Downing directs as follows : 
"The two buds left on the set are allowed to form two up- 
right shoots the next summer, which at the end of the season 
are brought down to a horizontal 
position, and fastened each way to 
the lower horizontal rail of the 
trellis, being shortened to three or 
four feet, or such a distance each 
way as it is wished to have the 
plant extend. The next year up- 
right shoots are allowed to grow 
TEAiNiNG. one foot apart; and these are 

stopped at the top of the trellis. The third year, the trellis 
being filled with vines, a set of lateral shoots will be produced 
from the upright leaders, with from one to three bunches on 
each. The vine is now perfect, and it is only necessary at the 
autumnal or winter pruning to cut back the lateral shoots or 
fruit spurs to within an inch of the uprights, and new laterals 
producing fruit will annually supply their places. If it should 




JMZ 



The Feuit Garden. 133 

be found after several years bearing tbat tbe grapes fail in size 
or flavor, the vines sbould be cut down to the main horizontal 
shoots at the bottom of the trellis. New uprights will be pro- 
duced, which treat as before. 

This is the way to have good crops of perfect grapes. If 
you desire wood and leaves instead, less pruning will do. The 
annual pruning should be performed either in November, in 
February, or early in March — at least a month before vegeta- 
tion commences. All the other pruning required may be per- 
formed with the fingers or a pair of scissors. Only two 
bunches should be allowed to grow on one shoot; and the end 
of the shoot should be pinched off, four or five joints beyond 
the last of these, when the grapes are about half grown. All 
suckers and supernumerary shoots should be rubbed off so soon 
as they appear. Beyond this, no leaves must be removed, as 
they are absolutely essential to the full development and ripen- 
ing of the fruit. Every third year, at least, the borders where 
the grapevines are growing should have a heavy top-dressing 
of manure. 

Grapes may be preserved for a considerable time by taking 
the ripe bunches when free from external moisture, and packing 
them in jars, filling all the interstices with baked saw-dust or 
bran. 

2. The Cueeant — Ribes Ruhum. 

The currant is supposed to be a native of the north of Eu- 
rope. There are several varieties, of which the best are Red 
Dutch, White Dutch, and Knight's Sweet Red. 

Of the black currant {ribes nigrum)^ the only sort worthy 
of cultivation is the Black Naples. 

The currant is more easily cultivated than any other fruit. 
The best mode of propagating it is by planting out cuttings in 
the fall, or quite early in the spring. It is well to procure the 
cuttings in the fall, and keep them like scions until spring. By 
taking out aU the eyes of a cutting except the three or four 
upper ones, currants can easily be kept in the form of little 
trees. 



134: 



The Garden. 



3. TniE GoosEBEEEY — Eibes Grossularia. 
The gooseberry requires a deep, strong, rich soil. It is very 
liable to suffer from drouth, and in dry seasons should be 
mulched. It is rather shy of bear- 
ing in this country, and does not 
succeed in aU localities, even at 
the North. At the South it is 
nearly useless, in ordinary locali- 
ties, to attempt its culture. 

The tree form is best for the 
gooseberry; and one half of the 
top should be thinned out at the 
winter pruning, so as to admit 
light and air through the head of 
the plant. When the berries are fairly set, thin them out, tak- 
ing away one half or more of them for the benefit of the rest. 
The best preventive and remedy for mildew is to keep the 
plants well manured and pruned every year. 

Of the numberless varieties cultivated, the following are 
among the best : 




nOITGnTON S SEEDLING. 



WHITE. 


GREEN". 


Woodward's Whitesmith, 


Green Gage, 


Freedom, 


Green Walnut, 


Taylor's Bright Venus, 


Parkinson's Laure' 


Sheba Queen. 


Thumper. 


YELLOW. 


EED. 


Leader, 


Crown Bob, 


Yellow Ball, 


Warrington, 


Catherine, 


London, 


Gunner. 


Houghton's Seedling. 



4. The Raspberet — Rubus Idceus. 
This is a delicious fruit, even in its wild state, and has been 
much improved by cultivation. The following sorts are all 
desirable: 



Ked Antwerp, 
Orange, 



American Eed, 
American Black, 




The Fkuit Garden. 135 

Fastolf, Ohio Everbearing, 

Franconia, Merveille de Quatre Sai3on8. 

The grand merit of the Ohio Everbearing is its property of 
bearing till late in the season. In other 
respects it is precisely like the American 
Black (common thimbleberry). The 
Merveille de Quatre Saisons, a French 
variety, is an autumnal raspberry. The 
foreign varieties do not, in general, suc- 
ceed at the South. The American Black 
seems to do best there. 

A deep, rich loam, rather moist than 
dry, suits the raspberry best. It is 
propagated by suckers or offsets. Plant bed antweep. 

in a sunny quarter of the garden, in rows from three to four 
feet apart each way. Three or four suckers may be planted 
together to form a group. This should be done in the autumn 
or very early in the spring. 

All dead wood and the smaller stems should be cut away in 
the spring, even with the ground. Four or five shoots should 
be left, and tied to a stake, the tops having about one foot of 
their upper extremities headed off. A slight top-dressing of 
manure, with a sprinkling of salt, dug in every spring, is aU 
the further cultivation required. 

The raspberry plant is in perfection when it is thi-ee years 
old. When it is about six years old, it should be dug up, and 
a new plantation made, on a piece of ground where the plant 
has not recently grown before. It is an excellent mode to 
make a small plantation every year, so as to continue a supply 
of the fruit. In extreme cold latitudes, it is necessaiy to bend 
the plants down, and cover them with earth or straw through 
the winter. 

To have a fine crop of late raspberries, cut down some of 
the canes or stems, in the spring, to within a few inches of the 
ground. The new shoots which will spring up will come into 
bearing in August or September. 



136 



The Garden. 



5. Blackberry — Rebus of species. 
The low blackberry or dewberry (rebus Canadensis) has 
never, we believe, been cultivated, but the fruit, when well 
exposed to the sun and fully ripened, is sweet, high flavored, 
and not to be despised. It is also doubtless susceptible of im- 
provement. Of the high blackberry (rebus villosus), the fol- 
lowing improved varieties are highly esteemed, and the first 
two much cultivated. 

3. JVew Bochelle.—YerY large; intensely black; juicy; rather soft, sweet, 
excellent flavor. Elpens the first of August, and continues in use six weeks. 
Originated at New Eochelle, N. Y. 

2. Dorchester. — Nearly equal in size to the foregoing, but of a more elongated 
form. Very sweet and high flavored. Vigorous and productive. Eipens 
about the first of August. Bears carriage well. Originated in Massachusetts. 

3. Newman's 77iornl6Ss.—From.ises to be valuable. Not so well tested as 
the others. New York. 

The blackberry requires similar culture to the raspberry. 

6. The Strawberry — Fragaria. 
This is the queen of all berries — delicious, wholesome, and 
imiversally esteemed. It is a native of the temperate latitudes 

of Asia, Europe, and 
America. The best va- 
rieties now cultivated in 
this country have origin- 
ated from native species 
— the Scarlets and the 
Pines. 

In its wild or natural 
i t a t e , the strawberry 
generally produces her- 
maphrodite or perfect 
blossoms. Cultivated 
varieties have not all 
retained this property. 
HoTET's SEEDLING. Thcy are properly di- 

vided, with reference to their blossoms, into three classes — 




The Feuit Garden. 137 

hermaphrodite, staminate, and pistillate. Varieties of the first 
class are, like the wild plants, perfect in themselves, and bear 
excellent crops. In the second class, the staminate or male 




Hermaphrodite. Staminate. Pistillate. 

BTBAWBEKBT BLOSSOMS. 

organs are perfect, hut the female or pistillate organs are more 
or less imperfect. They bear uncertain and comparatively- 
small crops, because only a part of the blossoms develop the 
pistils sufficiently to swell into perfect fruit. Plants of the 
third class bear only pistillate or female blossoms, and are by 
themselves entirely barren ; but when grown near a proper 
number of the staminate plants, they bear the largest crops 
and the most perfect berries. In planting a strawberry bed, 
therefore, it is important to know which are staminate, which 
pistillate, and which hermaphrodite varieties, and to arrange 
them accordingly. We shall carefully mark the three classes 
in our lists of sorts. From varieties almost numberless, we 
make the following selection : 

PINES AXD SCAELETS. 

1. ffovey''s Seedling.— Yery large and highly flavored. Succeeds everywhere. 
Originated in Massachusetts. Pistillate. 

2. Large Early Scarlet. — Medium ; sprightly, sub-acid. Yery early. Pop- 
ular in all section? of the country. Staminate. 

3. tJ[enny\s Seedling.— 'Large and excellent for market and preserving. 
Staminate. 

4. Boston Pi/?e.— Eather large, and very beautiful. Early. Bequires a 
deep, rich soil, and should be cultivated in hills or bunches. Does not succeed 
in all localities. Pistillate. 

5. Biivr''s yeio Fine.— A very excellent variety for some localities, but does 
not withstand extremes of heat or cold. Eequires high cultivation and great 
care, which it well repays in favorable localities. Pistillate. 

6. Zongworth^s Prolific.- Large, vigorous, and very productive ; rich, acid* 
Hermaphrodite. 



138 The Garden. 

7. Crimson Cone.— Old and well known; late; excellent for preserving. 
Pistillate. 

8. McA'voy''s Superior.— Truly superior at Cincinnati, where it originated. 
Has not fully sustained its reputation at the East. 

ALPINE AXD WOOD STRAWBEEEIES. 

1. Hed Wood.— This is the wild strawberry of Europe. Easy of cultivation, 
and one of the most desirable kinds. Sweet and delicate, but small. Flowers 
always hermaphrodite or perfect. The "White Wood is similar, except in color. 

2. Bed Alpine. — The French call this Des Alpes de Tons les JTois, signifying 
that it bears every month. It really continues in bearing from June to No- 
vember, and a fine autumn crop may be insured by cutting oflF the spring blos- 
soms. Resembles the Eed Wood. Flowers always perfect.* 

3. Bed Bush Aljnne — This grows in compact bunches, and is remarkable for 
its entire destitution of runners. It makes a fine edging for beds. Bears abun- 
dantly through the season. One of the most desirable sorts. Propagated by 
dividing the roots. Hermaphrodite. 

HAUTB0I8 BTEAWBEERIES.t 

1. Pealiody^s New Rauthois. — Very large, and very sweet, melting, and 
juicy, with a pineapple flavor. A new sort of the highest promise, originated 
by Chas. A. Peabody, of Cojumbus, Ga. Has not yet been well proved at the 
North. Hermaphrodite or perfect flowered. 

2. ProliJiG or Conical.— 'Lux gQ ; dark-colored, very rich, and high flavored ; 
slightly musky. A very excellent sort. Hermaphrodite. 

Form your strawberry bed in an open exposure, free jfrom 
tlie shade of trees or buildings. For an early crop, a slight 
inclination to the south or east is desirable. The ground must 
be deeply spaded, and a plenty of decomposed leaves and other 
vegetable manure and ashes well turned under and mixed with 
the soil. Pulverize the soil thoroughly. Now mark off your 
bed into rows two feet apart, and set the plants, if of the large 

* Geo. M. Caldwell, of St. Albans, Vt., describes, in a communication now 
before us, an ever-bearing strawberry cultivated by him, the origin of which 
he does not know. He says : 

" It blossoms and perfects its fruit in the open air until the ground freezes. 
The variety is not remarkably high flavored, of medium size, and an ordinary 
bearer, but perfectly hardy. In pots they will blossom, and ripen fruit through 
the winter." 

It may be the Eed Alpine, but we can not determine this point from hia 
description. 

t Ikmtlo'is, high wood— that is, wood strawberries with high leaves and 
fruit stalks. 



The Fruit Garden. 139 

growing sorts, two feet apart. For some of the smaller sorts 
one foot or eighteen inches will do. " Care should be taken 
that the plants are put into the ground just as they came out 
of it — that is, with all their laterals spreading, and not all 
gathered together and crammed into a little hole." If your 
principal sort is st pistillate, you must plant a sufficient number 
of staminate plants to impregnate the others. Of the Early 
Scarlet, one row to eight of the pistillates will be enough. Of 
less vigorous kinds, more are requh*ed. It is weU to plant them 
in alternate strips, thus : 

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP 
PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP 
PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP 
PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP 

PATH. 

S8SSSSSSSSSSSS8S8SSS8SSSSSS 

PATH. 
PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP 
PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP 
PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP 
PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP 

The staminate strip may, of course, consist of several rows 
if desirable. 

In planting the hermaphrodite or perfect flowered varieties, 
as the Woods, Alpines, and Hautbois, of course no such 
arrangement is required. Planting may be done with success 
either in autumn or spring. Keep the ground well worked 
between the rows, to keep it free from weeds, and, unless you 
want new plants for a future setting, cut off all the runners so 
soon as they appear. A light mulching with partially decayed 
leaves or straw, covering the whole ground, but not the plants, 
will prove highly beneficial, especially in dry seasons and at 
the South. Before the fruit begins to ripen, cover the ground 
with a thin layer of straw, hay, or new-mown grass, to keep 
the fruit clean. Every autumn, if the plants be not sufficiently 
luxiu-iant, a light top-dressing of manure should be applied. 



140 The Gaeden. 

A strawberry bed must always be renewed after the fourtli 
year. An easy mode of renewing a strawberry is what is 
called cultivation in alternate strips. On the third summer 
from planting, suffer the runners to grow and root into the 
spaces between the rows ; then, in the fall or spring, dig up the 
old plants, and your new rows are already formed in what 
were last year the spaces between the rows. At the end of 
three years repeat the process, and so on, not forgetting to 
spade in a generous quantity of vegetable manure whenever 
you dig up the old rows. 

"To accelerate the ripening of strawberries," Downing says, 
*' it is only necessary to plant the rows or beds on the south side 
of a wall or tight fence. A still simpler mode is to throw up 
a ridge of earth three feet high, running east and west, and to 
plant it in rows on the south side." Ten days or more may be 
gained in this way ; and if later fruit be desired, rows planted 
on the north side would probably have their fruiting retarded 
nearly as much. 

Mr. Peabody, of Georgia, one of the most successful straw- 
berry culturists in the world, insists with great emphasis that 
no animal manure should be used in the cultivation of this 
plant. The grand secret of success, he says, is to feed the 'plant 
for fruity and not for vine — to stint the natural luxuriance of 
the latter, and turn all the vital forces of the plant to the pro- 
duction of berries. In this way, and by keeping the ground 
shaded by mulch, and continually watering his plants, he has 
fine strawberries for nine months out of the twelve. "Let the 
cultivator remember," he says, "the four great requisites for a 
profitable strawberry bed : Proper location, vegetable manures, 
shade to the ground, and watee, watee, watee." The shade 
to the ground is secured by the mulching we have recommended. 
The watering is less essential at the North than at the South, 
but is often very advantageous. Let no reader of this little 
work neglect to plant a strawberry bed, and enjoy with thank- 
fulness its delicious fruits. 



The Fkuit Gakden. 141 

vi.— miscellaneous fruits. 
1. The Fig — Ficus Carica. 
This delicious southern fruit is a native of Asia and Africa, 
and has been cultivated from the earliest times. In our South- 
ern States it grows almost spontaneously everywhere. In the 
Middle States it may be cultivated in the open air, by keeping 
it low, and covering it weU during the winter. For a selection 
of choice varieties, the following are recommended : 

EED, BEOWlSr, OE PUEPLE. 
Brunswick (purple), Malta (brown), 

Brown Turkey, Black Genoa, 

Brown Ischia, Black Ischia, 

Small Brown Ischia, Violette, 

Alicante (purple), Pergussetta (light purple). 

WHITE, GEEEN, OE YELLOW. 
Common White, Nerii (light green), 

"White Genoa, White Ischia. 

The fig is propagated by cuttings either of the shoots or the 
root, and planted either in the fall or the spring. Planted in 
hot-beds in January, they will form handsome plants the same 
season. Layers also may be made, and suckers taken off for 
planting. Set them out fifteen feet apart, and the first winter 
after planting they may be cut off nearly to the ground. The 
next year they will make vigorous shoots, one or more of which 
may be allowed to grow, and the rest rubbed off. When 
young, it is best even at the South to protect the tree during 
the winter by covering it with evergreen branches. Little 
pruning is required. North of Philadelphia the branches must 
be bent down to the ground on the approach of winter, and 
covered with three or four inches of soil. No one who lives in 
a climate adapted to their growth should fail to cultivate a few 
fig-trees. 

2. The Pomegeanate — Punica Granatum. 
This unique and beautiful fruit should receive more attention 



142 



The Garden, 




BRANCH AND FBTJIT. 



than has hitherto been given to it in all Southern gardens. It 
will grow readily so far north as Mary- 
land, but does not always mature its 
fruit perfectly north of South Carolina. 
The tree is quite ornamental, and the 
fruit has a very refreshing acid pulp. 
Its singular and beautiful appearance 
renders it a welcome addition to the 
dessert. It is also used medicinally in 
fevers, on account of its cooling nature. 
It might be exported froni the South 
to any extent. It is propagated by 
cuttings, layers, or suckers, and is very 
easily cultivated. The finest varieties are the Sweet Fruited, 
the Sub-acid Fruited, and the Wild Acid Fruited. Besides 
these, there are several double-flowering varieties, which are 
very beautiful. 

3. The Mulbeery — Morus of species. 

The mulberry deserves mention here, and a place in the 
garden or lawn. It is a hardy and handsome tree, and pro- 
duces a palatable and wholesome fruit. 

The Red Mulberry {morus rubra) is a native species, but is 
less desirable for the garden than the Black Mulberry (morus 
nigra), a species much esteemed and widely cultivated in Eu- 
rope. This sort will hardly succeed, except in very warm and 
sheltered situations, north of New York. It is propagated by 
cuttings, and easily cultivated. 



The Flower Garden. 143 



VIII. 
THE FLOWER GARDEN. 

God might have bade the earth bring forth 

Enough for great and small, 
The oak-tree and the cedar-tree, 

Without a flower at all. 

He might have made enough, enough 

For every want of ours — 
For luxury, medicine, and toil, 

And yet have made no flowers 

Our outward life requires them not- 
Then wherefore have they birth ? 

To minister delight to man ; 
To beautify the earth ; 

To comfort man— to whisper hope ; 

"Whene'er his faith is dim ; 
For whoso careth for the flowers, 

Will much more care for him. — Manj Hoioiit, 

I.-INTEODUOTOET EEMAEKS. * 

;E who loves not flowers, and grudges the 
few square feet of soil which they are 
grumblinglj permitted to occupy in a cor- 
ner of his garden, may skip over this 
chapter. "We give him our heartfelt pity ; 
and to the wife or daughter, whose more re- 
fined and elevated tastes have not allowed him to 
devote his front yard to the cultivation of potatoes 
and cabbages, we offer our thanks. 

Had we room, we could prove even to the devotee 
of literal utilitarianism, that the flower garden has its uses^ 
that lilies and dahlias have quite as important a mission in the 
world as beets and carrots ; but we must forego the argu- 
ments and illustrations which this course would call for, and 




144 The Garden. 

confine ourself to the less interesting, but perhaps more use- 
ful, details which follow. 

A word, however, to the ladies, to whom we most respect- 
fully dedicate this chapter. We shall take it for granted that 
you love flowers ; for we hold that she who does not, is no true 
woman. But perhaps you are ready to declare that, positively, 
you have no time to devote to their cultivation ; that you have 
not suflficient strength for such labor; or, possibly, that all 
out-of-door employments are ungenteel and unfeminine. 

Unless you have time to be sick, which you will hardly ad- 
mit, you have time to take care of your health. To do this 
properly, you must have daily exercise in the open air. Where 
can you take this more pleasantly or more profitably than in 
your flower garden ? You are not strong enough, do you say ? 
This is just the way to acquire strength. Begin very moder- 
ately, allowing some stronger person to do the heaviest work. 
An hour or two of light, active, and pleasurable employment, 
out-of-doors, each fair day, take our word for it, will prove 
more beneficial than the best tonic mixture that your good and 
much respected doctor, with all his skill, can prepare for you. 
Try it. You will soon be able to use the light hoe and spade, 
which we recommend you to procure at once, with ease and 
pleasure. The quack's Female Pills find few patrons among 
the wives and daughters who cultivate their own flower gar- 
dens. The idea that the employment is unsuited to woman is 
a preposterous and absurd one. Where is her place if not 
among the flowers — herself the fairest flower of all? Shall 
she blush to own that her own fair hands have reared the 
floral gems with which she adorns her hair ? But we rejoice 
in believing that few of our readers will urge this plea. They 
will, for the most part, fully agree with us that floriculture 
should have a prominent place among the female " accomplish- 
ments." 

For her light work, a lady requires implements made spe- 
cially for her use. A spade ; a hoe ; a rake ; a fork ; a trowel ; 
a watering-pot; a pruning-knife ; a pair of small shears; a 



The Flower Garden. 145 

basket, for the weeds and clippings ; a small hammer ; a ball 
of twine ; a stout apron, with pockets for the pnming-knife, 
shears, etc. ; a pair of strong leather gloves, for handling prickly 
shrubs ; and a pair of overshoes, will make up a very good 
outfit. The implements should all be light, and of the best 
quality. The pruning-knife should be kept i^ery sharp. Use 
it for cutting slips, and for removing branches, leaves, etc. 
The shears are used for clipping hedges, box, borders, etc. 

In connection with her gardening operations, we recommend 
to every lady who has sufficient leisure the study of botany- — 
both structural and systematic. 

n.— LAYING OUT A FLOWEE GARDEN. 

To attempt, within the limits of a few pages, to fully instruct 
those who have extensive grounds to lay out, would be pre- 
sumptuous. Such persons will need to study Downing's 
"Landscape Gardening," or seek the aid of a practical land- 
scape gardener. Our brief hints and suggestions are intended 
for those whose ornamental grounds are measured by rods 
instead of acres. 

We will suppose that, as is generally the case, you wish to 
devote a portion of the space immediately around your dwell- 
ing-house to the cultivation of flowers. 

If the distance between the entrance gate and the house be 
small, you must be content with a straight walk from the one 
to the other ; but this should be relieved, and its necessary 
stiffness somewhat modified, by curved side-walks, branching 
from the main walk near the front door, and running back to 
the vegetable garden in the rear of the house. "Where the 
space is a little greater, the straight walk should not be toler- 
ated. It may be curved in various ways, as taste may sug- 
gest, and the nature of the case permit. The walks may aU 
have edgings of dwarf box. Near these walks we recom- 
mend cutting a sufficient number of flower-beds in the turf. 
This gives a much more beautiful appearance to the yard than 
it would have if .devoted exclusively to flower-beds. If more 

7 



146 The Gaeden. 

space be wanted, it may, perhaps, be found behind the honse, 
and next the fruit or vegetable garden. The beds thus cut in 
the turf may be of various shapes and sizes, but should always 
be bounded by curved lines. The grass-plots in which they 
are situated should be kept smoothly shaven. 

In arranging the plants in your beds, place the tallest in the 
center; but very tall growers, like the hollyhocks and sun- 
flowers, should, in general, be disposed as a back-ground in 
borders next the walls. So arrange all the kinds that the 
smaller shall not be hidden or too much shaded by the larger, 
but all be seen in their order, and each contribute to the gen- 
eral effect. Eeference must also be had to colors and their 
proper combination. It is weU, so far as is possible, to select 
plants which appear well through the season, whether in blos- 
som or not. A constant succession of flowers in each bed 
may be secured by commencing with the early flowering bulbs, 
following these with the best herbaceous perennials, and clos- 
ing with a good selection of annuals. 

Climbing plants of various kinds, both annual and perennial, 
if judiciously introduced, add greatly to the beauty of the 
grounds around a dwelling. Walls may be mantled with them ; 
doors and windows enwreathed ; any unsightly object hidden ; 
arbors covered ; and posts and the trunks of trees entwined. 
They may also be permitted to trail among the smaller shrubs — 
care being taken, of course, that they do not, in their luxuri- 
ance, overpower or hide other plants. Various kinds of sup- 
ports for climbers may be introduced into the portions of the 
yard devoted to trees and shrubs. The simplest of these is a 
single upright pillar of cedar or other durable wood in its 
rough bark, or a sawed piece of timber with holes bored 
through it at regular intervals, through which the leading 
shoots may be drawn as they advance in growth. Prairie 
roses, bignomas, and other hardy cHmbers, if skillfully trained, 
make a very handsome appearance on such pillars. Two 
climbing roses, of unlike colors, may be thus trained together 
with a fine effect. These posts should be nine or ten feet high. 



The Flowek Garden. 147 

In some cases it is better to drive strong wooden rods tlirougli 
the holes we Ijave spoken of, for the support of, the climber. 
Slender climbers, like the cypress vine and the morning glorj, 
require a lighter and more elegant support. 

In the arrangement of the shrubs and trees the same prin- 
ciple applies as to the herbaceous plants. "We should endeavor 
to produce the effect of banks, and irregular and picturesque 
conical masses of foliage, rising higher as they recede from the 
eye. We therefore place the larger growing kinds in the back 
row, or in the center of a group, as the case may be ; some- 
what smaller ones next in order, and still smaller ones in front. 

III.-GENEEAL DIKECTIOXS. 

Our very limited space will not permit us to go into details 
in reference to the cultivation of flowers. "With a few general 
directions, however, one may get on very well in the manage- 
ment of a small flower garden. What is most needed is some 
guide in the selection of plants to be cultivated ; and this we 
shall fui*nish in the next section. 

1. Soil^ etc. — ^For most kinds of flowers a rather sandy soil, 
well enriched with vegetable mold and well-rotted stable man- 
ure, is the best. It must be thoroughly broken up or pulver- 
ized before planting. This is even more necessary here than 
in the kitchen garden. The ground should be dug to the depth 
of fifteen inches, and raised a few inches above the general 
level of the garden or yard. 

2. Annual and Biennial Plants. — Annual* and biennial! 
plants are in general very easy of cultivation, merely requir- 
ing, in a majority of cases, to be sown where they are to 
bloom, thinned out (with a few exceptions, which will be noted 
in their place) to give them room, and kept free from weeds. 

Never sow till the soil has become tolerably warm and dry, 
as some flowgr-seeds are very liable to rot in the ground. In 

* Annual plants are those wliich live but one year. 

t Biennial plants are such as endure two years ; blooming on the second. 



148 The Gakden. 

this climate, from the middle of April to the first of May, in 
ordinary seasons, will be sufficiently early for most of them. 
A little farther north, from the first to the middle of May will 
be the average time. The smaller seeds must be very lightly 
covered, but larger ones, like the lupines, may be covered to 
the depth of two inches. It is a good way to sow in small 
circles — say fi'om four to nine inches in diameter. In the cen- 
ter of this circle place a taUy, or label of some kind, with the 
name, to prevent mistakes. Soon after they come up, the soil 
must be carefully stirred, the plants thinned out, if they re- 
quire it, and aU weeds removed. A few kinds do better with 
transplanting than to remain where they are sown. Of this 
nature are the balsams, the China aster, the marigold, the 
hibiscus, and the ziimia, and several other very free-growing 
plants. 

3. Bulbs. — The best season for planting hardy bulbous roots, 
such as the lilies, peonies, etc., is late in autumn, but they 
may be set out in December if the ground be not frozen, and 
the bulbs remain sound. 

" Hyacinths, Amaryllis, Martagon, and other large lilies, and 
peonies, should be planted at the depth of four inches ; Crown 
Imperials and Polyanthus Narcissus, five inches ; Tuhps, Double 
Narcissus, Jonquilles, and Colchicums, three inches; Bulbous 
Iris, Crocus, Arums, small Fritillarias, Gladiolus Byzantium, 
and Snowdrops, two inches ; Eanunculus and Anemones, one 
inch ; always measuring from the top of the bulb. The roots 
should be placed from four to six inches apart, according to 
their size. 

" Take up bulbous roots about a month after the blossom is 
completely over, in the following manner : "When the plants 
put on a yellowish, decayed appearance, take up the roots, cut 
off the stem and foliage within an inch of the bulbs, but leave 
the fibers, etc., attached to them ; spread them in an airy room 
for two or three weeks to dry, after which wrap each root 
carefully in paper (as the air is very injurious to bulbs), or 
cover them in sand perfectly dry." 



The Flower Gakden. 149 

4. Shrubs. — Flowering-shrubs may be planted out so soou 
as tlie frost is out and the ground sufficiently dry, which will 
generally be in April. The same general directions apply as 
have already been given for trees. Tall shrubs should be sup- 
ported for a while by a stake. The roots must not be permit- 
ted to dry before planting ; and if they are to be carried to a 
distance, they must be kept from the air by means of moss, or 
straw mats bound about them. 

IV.— LISTS OF FLOWEEING PLANTS AND SHRUBS. 

"We now proceed to give lists of choice herbaceous plants 
and flowering shrubs. We might make our catalogues much 
more extensive, and still fail to embrace all that are desirable 
in particular localities and under particular circumstances. 
"We trust that they will be found useful, if not wholly satis- 
factory, to the novice. For the professional gardener, of course, 
we do not write. 

HAEDT ANNUALS. 

1. Blue Floweeed Argeeatum {Argeratum Ifexicanum).— Color, blue; 
height, one foot ; in bloom all the season. 

2. Sweet Altssum {A. cali/cina}.— 'White ; fragrant ; six inches ; all season. 
8. Love Lies Bleeding {Amarantlius ca7idatus).—Bed and. yellow ; sum. 

4. Pelnce's Feathee {A. hyi^ochondriacios). — Eed ; summer. 

5. TnEEE-coLOEED Amaeanth {A. tricoloi'). — Is most beautiful on rather 
poor soil ; summer 

6. Pheasant's Eye {Adonis mi7iiata).—B,ed ; showy; summer. 

7. China Astee {A. Chinensis).—Y arions colors ; some lately imported 
varieties are very beautiful ; eighteen inches ; summer. 

8. Cockscomb (Celosia cristata).— Crimson ; eighteen Inches ; autumn. 

9. Sweet Sultan {Ce?itaurea of species). — (C. mo-ychata), purple; {C. ere- 
tica), white ; (C sioaveolens), yellow ; two feet ; summer. 

10. MoENiNG Gloey {^Convolvulus 7ncrjo/').— Various ; climbing; summer 
and autumn. 

11. DwAEF MoENiNG Glory ((7. minor). —'BlviQ ; eighteen Inches ; summer. 

12. CHRY8Eis(r. croced).— Orange ; one foot; allthe season; ((7. Californica) 
yellow. 

13. Lupine {Lupitms of species).— Many varieties; various; one to five 
feet ; some are perennial. 

14. Cypeess Vine (Ipomo&a of species).— (/. quamoclit), crimson ; (/. alba), 
white ; climbing ; summer and autumn. /. coccinea, a native Southern plant ; 
is generally classed with the morning glories ; red ; climbing ; autumn. 



150 The Garden. 

15. Phlox (P. Dru77i77iondii).~Crimson ; rose, lilac, and white ; (P. Van 
Jloutii), variegated ; two feet ; all the season. 

16. Zinnia (Z. elegans).— Various ; two feet ; very showy ; should be watered 
copiously ; all the season. 

17. Balsam, ok Ladies' Slippek {Balsami/ia 7iortensis).—Yanous ; two feet ; 
Bummer and autumn. 

IS. Mignonette (Reseda odorata). — Yellowish green ; six inches ; chiefly 
valued for its perfume ; all the season. 

19. Nasturtium {Tropceolum atrosonquinetmi).— Crimson ', climbing; in 
bloom all the season. 

20. Canaet Bikd Flower (71 adiinctim). — ^A beautiful climber. 

21. PoKTULAOcA {P. spUndens). — Purple ; splendid ; (P. Tho7^1)urnii), yel- 
low; (P. aZ&a), white ; (P. elegans), crimson; (P. Thellusonii), red; should 
be grown in a mass to give the finest effect. 

22. Malope (i)/". c/7'a7idi^ora).— Scarlet and white ; three feet ; summer. 

23. Ten-week-stock {3futhioIa annua), — At least a dozen distinct colors ; 
one foot ; summer. All the varieties are well worthy of cultivation. 

24. Marigold {Tagetes erecto).— Orange, yellow, straw-colored; eighteen 
inches; autumn. French Marigold (P. patula), striped with deep brown, 
purple, and yellow. 

25. Clarkia ((7. elegans). — Eose-colored ; elegant; (<7. Pulchella), purple; 
showy ; {C. alba), white ; one foot; all the season. 

26. Candytuft {Ibe7'is ama/^a). — "White; (/. uinheUata), purple; (/. vio- 
lacea), violet ; (/. odoi'ata), sweet-scented. All these species are desirable. 

27. Larkspur {Delphinum ajases).— Many varieties, double flowered, and 
superb. Branching Larkspur (P. co7isoUda), various colors ; summer. 

28. Three-colored Gilia {G. tricolor'). — Light-blue margin and dark cen- 
ter; dwarf; summer. 

29. Pappy {Papaver Mar'seillii). — "White, edged with red ; eighteen inches ; 
summer. 

30. Sweet Pea {Lathyr'us odo7'atus).— Many varieties— white, black, scarlet, 
and variegated ; three or four feet ; summer and autumn. 

31. Hibiscus {IT. manihot).—Yelloyf ; {II. Africamia major'), buff, with a 
black center ; two feet ; summer. 

32. Clintonia (C". eZefi^aMs).— Blue ; six inches; very slender; autumn. 

33. Yerbena (F. of species).— Every shade of color from white to crimson ; 
procumbent ; very pretty ; all the season. 

34. Dwarf Sunflower {HeliantMis Calif amicus). —A. double flower. 

35. Sun Love {IleliopMla arahoides).—h\nQ ; very pretty. 

36. Pansy ( Viola tricolor).— Y&rioMS ; all the season. [A perennial, but 
treated as an annual.] 

87. Petunia (P. vw^ae^'w).— Every variety of color; dwarf; all the season. 
38. Yellow Everlasting {XerantJieum oi species). — Eighteen inches ; aut. 
89. Evening Primrose {(Enothera mac7'oca>pa).—Ye\lovf ; large flowered ; 
dwarf; summer and autumn. 

40. LoASA (Z. lateritia). — Orange colored ; a beautiful climbing plant. 

41. Calandrinia j^C. discolor).— 'Rosy purple ; very fine ; sum. and autumn. 



The Flower Garden. 151 

42. Calliopsis (C Mcolor).— Three feet; very showy; autumn. 

43. Maevel of Perxt {Mirabilis Jalapa). — Many varieties ; autumn. 

44. Grove Love {Nemophila maculata). — Spotted ; beautiful. 

45. Heliotrope (7bw?'%e/orfia heliotropoides).— White and blue; very fra- 
grant; autumn. 

46. LovE-iN-A-MisT {Nigella Damacene).— Showy ; autumn. 

For twelve sorts, the following would be a good selection : 
Numbers 1, 2, 7, 9, 10, 14, 15, 21, 23, 25, 33, and 37. To make 
up twentj sorts add 6, 11, 13, 16, 19, 22, 29, and 41. 

HAEDT BIENlSriALS. 

1. EosE Campion {AyronUmma eoronaria). — Blooms all summer. 

2. Foxglove {Digitalis of species). — Purple, white, and spotted. 

8. Cantekbuey Bell {Campanula of species).— Various ; blooms in July 
and August. 

4. IIoLLTHOOK {Althea rosa). — All its varieties ; summer and autumn. De- 
sirable varieties can be propagated by dividing the roots. Biennial-perennial. 

5. Geeaedia {G. of species). — Yellow, purple, and spotted. 

6. DwAEF Evening Pelmeose {CEnothera coryinhosa). 
1. HuMEA (//. elegans).—K\\ the season. 

8. Catch Fly {Silene multlflora). 

9. MxjsK-ScENTED ScABiotTS {ScaMosa atropxhrpurea^. 

10. Naked-Stemmed Poppy {Papaver nudicaule). 

Tbougb all the biennials are generally propagated by seeds, 
the double ones may also be successfully continued by cuttings 
and slips of the tops, and by layers and pipings. Biennials, it 
should be remembered, never flower till the second year. 

HARDY PEEENNIALS.* 
1. HEEBACEOtrS PLANTS.t 

1. Columbine {AquiUgia milgaris).— Single and double, and many colors. 

2. Harebell {Campanula of species). — All the species of this genus are 
very beautiful. Flowers single and double ; many colors. C. grandiflora 
has superb blue flowers. 

8. Carnation {Dianthus caryophyUm).—K much noted and very beautiful 
flower ; propagated by seeds and by layers. 

4. Sweet William {D. barbatm).— Many colors and shades of color— white, 
red, pink, and crimson. The French call it lioquet parfait. 

* Perennial plants are those which endure from year to year indefinitely. 

t Those which die down to the root every year. In a restricted sense (In 
which we use it here), the term herbaceous is not made to Include the bulbous 
and tuberous rooted plants. 



152 The Gaeden. 

5. Pink {B. 2)lumarim).—M.aiiy varieties. 

6. Chrysanthemum {Pyrethrum of species).— Varieties and colors number- 
less ; the last showy flower of the season. The following are all very beautiful : 

LAEGE FLOWERED. SMALL FLOWERED. 

Defiance— lemon-yellow. La Fianc&e— white. 

Baron de Solomon— rosy-crimson. Ilarriette Lebois— rosy-carmine. 

Julia Langdale— rosy-purple. Cybelle- amber and gold. 

Liencour — lilac and orange. Mignonette — rose. 

Magnificent— blush. Vartigene— crimson. 

Mrs. Cope— crimson-purple. Paquerette— white-shaded crimson. 

Sphinx— bright claret. Sacramento— dark yellow, red center. 

White Perfection — pure white. Louise — pale rose. 

7. Double Daisy {Bellis p6rennis).—M.any varieties and various shades of 
white, pink, and crimson. 

8. Dielytra (Z>. s])ectaMlis).—A very beautiful plant ; flowers pink and 
white ; June and July. 

9. Foxglove {Digitalis of species).— Various and beautiful. Theoretically 
a biennial ; but may be continued by dividing into ofiF-sets. 

10. Gentian {Gentiana of species).— Blue, yellow, and white ; very showy. 

11. Geranium {Pelargonium of species). — Species numerous ; varieties num- 
berless. For bedding plants the Scarlet, the Nutmeg-scented (white), and the 
Eose are the most desirable. 

12. FoRGET-ME-NoT {MyosoUs sylvatica). — Blue, pretty, and indispensable. 

13. Hollyhock {Althea rosa).— We have mentioned this among the bien- 
nials, where it theoretically belongs ; but it is practically a perennial, from tho 
•way in which it increases by oflf-sets. Hollyhocks are very beautiful in their 
%)roper places — in borders and among shrubbery. The varieties and colors 
are numberless. Choose the double-flowering sorts. 

14 Lupine {Lupinus of species).— Some of the perennial herbaceous sorts 
are very beautiful ; early in summer. 

15. Double Kagged Bobbin {Lychnis of species). — Scarlet and white. 

16. Pansey, or Heartsease ( Viola tricolor).— YsiriQlies. innumerable ; some- 
times treated as an annual ; blooms all the season. 

17. Violet ( Viola of species).— Many of the species, both native and foreign, 
deserve a place in the garden. Of V. odorata plena, the white and purple 
varieties are very beautiful ; bloom early. 

18. Phlox {P. of species).— Various colors ; no garden should be without 
some of the perennial species ; summer. 

19. Veronica ( V. chamcedrys). — Blue flowers ; a good border plant ; early 
in summer. 

20. Valerian ( V. hortensis et V. Pyrenaica). — White and red ; grow and 
bloom well on walls and rock-work. 

Nearly all the foregoing plants are easily propagated by 
dividing tlie roots, and will grow in any garden soil. A few 
of them will not prove hardy north of New York. 



The Flower Garden. 153 

2. TUBEEOTJS-EOOTED PLANTS. 

1. Dahlia {D. variabilis). — Colora and varieties numberless; a splendid 
nutumn flower for large beds and among shrubbery. The following are a few 
of the finest varieties : 

Amazone— yellow, margined with carmine. 

Anna Maria — violet, tipped with white. 

Belle Amazone — bright yellow, edged with gold. 

Favorite— dark carmine. 

Gazelle— delicate blush. 

Grand Sultan— dark purple, with light edges. 

Emperitrice Eugenie— black brown. 

Madame Becker— maroon, tipped with white. 

Malvina— purple, shaded with darker purple. 

Eenuncale Imperiale— lilac and purple. 

Pr§tro3e— dark carmine. 

"Wonderful— dark yellow, with purple stripes. 

2. Ieis (/. of species). — More than fifty species, some of which are tuberous- 
rooted ; all very beautiful. /. susiana is the finest ; flowers large and spotted 
with brown. 

8. Makvel of Peext {MiraliiUs Jalapa). — Generally treated as an annual ; 
very beautiful ; requires a warm border. 

4. Everlasting Pea {Lathyrus of species).— The common Everlasting Pea 
is L. latifolius. Once planted it will, for the most part, take care of itself. 
Some of the species are annuals. 

5. Peony (P. officinalis).— 'SLany varieties. The Chinese Peony (P. fra- 
grans) has pinky-purple flowers and a rose-like perfume. 

6. Eanunculus {R. of species).— Several species are hardy and desirable for 
border-plants. The Double Buttercup (P. acris) is well known. 

7. Ladies' Slipper {Cijpripedium of species).— Several species are natives 
of our woods ; very beautiful, but diflicult of propagation. 

8. Anemone {A. of species).— Many species ; white, purple, yellow, and scar- 
let ; succeed best in cool latitudes. Our native Wood Anemone (^A. nemorosa) 
deserves mention among the garden flowers. 

The tuberous-rooted plants are propagated bj tubers, and 
some of them also \>j seeds. Dahlias reqmre a sandj soil. 
Sand and vegetable mold make a good mixture for them. ISTo 
animal manure should be applied. 

3. BULBOUS-EOOTED PLANTS. 

1. Crocus (C. of species).— Many species; yellow, lilac, white, etc. The 
Yellow Crocus {C. luteus) is the greatest favorite. The Spring Flowering (61 
vernus) works in well among shrubs and trees ; blooms early in the spring. 

2. Crown Imperial {Fritillaria Imperialis).— Color varies from light yellow 
to orange red ; showy ; suitable for borders. 

7=1- 



164 



The Garden 



3. HTACiirrn {ITyacinthus Orimtails).— Varieties innumerable ; choose an 
assortment of various colors. 

4. Ikw (/. of species). — Of the bulbous species, the Persian (/. Persica) ia 
the most beautiful, but does better in a pot or frame, with some protection. 

5. Lily (Lilium of species).— The species are very numerous, and all very 
beautiful. The following is a selection : 

Common White (Z. candidum). 

Double White (i. candidum Jiore 2i^&nd). 

Scarlet (Z. chalcedonicmn). 

Japan (i. lancifolium of var.)— white, red, rose, spotted ; very beautiful. 

Turk's Cap (Z. martajo7C)—y oxiovA. 

Tiger (Z. tigriivum). 

6. Nakcissus {N. tazetta). — Yellow and white variously combined ; varieties 
numerous. 

. Daffodil fJV. pseudo narcisms).— Many varieties. 

8. Jonquil {]^. jonqjiilla).— Bright yel. ; fragrant ; requires copious watering. 

9. Snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis). — Double and single; both desirable. 

10. Squill {Scilla of species).— Blue and white ; S. amc&na and S. Siberica 
are exceedingly brilliant and beautiful ; blossom early in spring. 

11. Stab of Ekthleukm {Ornithogalum of species). — White and variegated ; 
easy of cultivation. 

12. Tulip {TuUpa Gesnerlana).— Varieties innumerable and of every shade. 
There are early and late sorts. Choose some of both. 

FLOWERING SHRUBS. 

1. EosE (Rosa of species).— Multitudinous in species and countless in variety. 
No two persons would make the same selection. For the few sorts wanted in 
a common garden, we suggest the following : 



HTBEID PERPETUAL E0SE8. 

Augusta Mie— blush. 

Geant des Battailles— brilliant crimson. 

Caroline de Sausal— flesh color. 

Lord Eaglan— fiery crimson. 

Matharin Eegina— lilac. 

General Jaqueminot— crimson-scarlet. 

Mrs. Elliott— rosy-purple. 

Duchess d'Orlcans — rosy-carmine. 

Baron Hallez— light crimson. 

Sydonie— light pink. 

Baron Prevost— deep rose. 

La Eeine— deep rosy lilac. 

Louis Peronny— deep rose, shaded. 

PEEPETUAL MOSS E0SE8. 

Madam Edward Ory — rosy carmine. 



Marie de Burgoyne— clear red. 
Salet— bright rosy red. 
General Drouot— purplish crimson. 
Perpetual White— pure white. 

SUMMEE E08E8. 

Coupe de Hebe— brilliant pink. 
Paul Eicaut— rosy crimson. 
Perle de Panche— white and red. 
Persian Yellow— deep golden yellow. 
Madame Plantier — pure white. 

climbing eoses. 
Queen of the Prairies— red, striped 

with white. 
Baltimore Belle— blush, nearly white. 
Mrs. Hovey— pale blush. 
Perpetual Pink— jjurple pink. 



The Flower Garden. 155 

2. Ehodobendeon (i2. CcitawMense).—This splendid American flowering 
shrub is worthy of a place in every garden. 

3. AzELiA (A. vicosa et A. nudi/iora).— White and purple; fragrant; too 
much neglected. 

4. Flowering Almond {Aimjgdalgus «.ana).— Beautiful pink flowers. 
Very desirable in every garden. Spring. 

5. Magnolia (J/, dbovatd). 

6. Tkee Peony {P. Jloutcm). 

7. Japan Qulnce (^Fyrus Japonica of var.).— Scarlet and white ; very early 
in the spring. 

8. Japan Globe Flower {Kerrier Japonica).— 'DomXAq yellow flowers. 
Bhowy. Spring. 

9. SpiEiEA {8. of species).— Many very beautiful species. The Lance-Leaved 
Spiraea {S. lancolata) is the most beautiful of aU. Flowers, white ; blooms in 
May. Yery desirable indeed. 

10. Deutzia (Z>. gracilis et D. sca&ra).— Flowers white. D. scahra is the 
more hardy. Both should be cultivated where the climate will permit. 

11. GuELDEB EoSE OR SNOWBALL TuEE {Vihrormc7n opulus). 

12. Garden Hydrangea {R. Rorteiisia).— White flowers. 

13. Lilac {Syringia of species). -Some of the new varieties are very flne. 

14. Pomegranate {Granatxim flora p/e?K?).— Beautiful; should be a favorite 
wherever the climate is sufficiently mild. 

15. Sweet Scented Shrub {Calycanthus Floridus). 

16. Althea or Kose of Sharon (IliMseus /Sy/ZcMs).— Many varieties. 

17. Honeysuckle {Lonicera of species).— Beautiful shrubs. 

18. Pink Mezereum {Daphne mesereum).— Dwarf, pretty ; flowers in March. 

19. Eose Acacia {RoVina liispida). 

20. Mock Orange {Philadeljyhus coronai^us).— White ; fragrant May and 
June. 

21. FoRSYTHiA {F, mxiidissima).—A. magnificent new shrub from China; 
flowers bright yellow ; very early in spring. 

22. Crimson Currant {Riles sanguineiMn).— Single and double crimson; 
early in spring. 

23. AsHBERRY {3falionia agwi/oZza).— Evergreen ; bright yellow flowers, 
blossoms very early in spring. 

24. EosE-CoLOBED TViEGELA ( W. rosea).— Delicatc rose-colored blossoms. 

25. Silver Bell {Halesia of species).—^. dijAera is much flner than the 
common Silver Bell (ZT. tetraptera). 

CLIMBEES AND CEEEPERS. 

1. Virginia Creeper (Ampelopsis hederacea). 

2. Trumpet Flower {Tecoma radicans*). 

8. Clematis ((7. of species).— Several species ; white, blue, and purple. The 
Bweet Scented {O.flamula) is exceedingly fragrant. 

* Gray ; the Bignonia of the old botanists. 



156 The GAEDEifr. 

4. Ivy {Hedera of species). 

5. Honeysuckle {Lonicera of species).— The Sweet Scented (Z. Belgica) is 
one of the most desirable species ; in bloom through the summer ; very fra- 
grant. The Chinese Evergreen {II. sinensis) is also a very fine sort. 

6. Chinese Wistaria ()K sinensis). — A very beautiful climbing plant; pale 
blue flowers in clusters. 

7. Climbing Eose {Rosa of species). — For these, see preceding list. 

8. Jasmine {Jasminmn revohitum). — Bright golden flowers ; very fragrant. 
Southern. Deserves a place in every garden at the South. 

9. Passion Flowee {Passijlora of species). — The most beautiful one is the 
Purple Flowering (P. incamata). 

10. BiETHwoKT OK DUTCHMAN'S PiPE {Avistolochia eipho).— An excellent 
arbor vine. 



Oenamental Trees and Shetjbs. 157 



IX. 



ORNAMENTAL TREES AND SHRUBS 

Happy is he who in a country life 
Shuns more perplexing toil and jarring strife ; 
Who Uvea upon the natal soil he loves, 
And Bits beneath his old ancestral groves. 




I.-GENEEAL HINTS. 



APPY indeed is lie 



Who lives upon the natal soil he loves, 
And sits beneath his old. ancestral groves ; 

but this happiness is the lot of compara- 
tively few in this country. Our forefathers 
Avere too deeply absorbed in the work of hewing 
down forests to think of planting groves, or to ap- 
preciate their beauty. They waged a war of exter- 
mination against trees, and, so far as they went, 
nothing but blackened stumps and unsightly skeletons 
remained. The effects of their indiscriminate " clearing" have 
been partially remedied in the older portions of the country 
(for which more thanks to nature than to man) ; but even 
there the language of our motto applies to only a few. Each 
man's natal soil is in the hands of a stranger. "What American 
lives where his father and grandfather lived and died? "We 
have been a migratory people. It will not always be so, how- 
ever, and if we can not, except in rare cases, " sit beneath our 
old ancestral groves," we may yet sit beneath those of our own 
planting — may learn to 

Love our own cotemporary trees, 

and die with the hope that our children and grandchildren may 
enjoy their shade after we have ceased to need it. 



158 T n E G A E D E N . 

The exhortation, "Plant trees! plant trees!" which has gone 
forth of late, and been so often reiterated, has not fallen upon 
heedless ears. Thousands have obeyed it, and tens of thou- 
sands stand readj, and onlj wait to be told what trees to plant, 
and how to plant them. 

For planting trees, we have already given such general direc- 
tions as the limits of our work would permit. "With a careful 
attention to the fundamental principles set forth in the first and 
second chapters, these directions will be found sufficient. It 
remains for us to add a few hints on arrangement, etc., and to 
give lists of the most desirable species for common use, as 
ornamental and shade trees and shrubs. 

As a border for a straight road or street, we must, of neces- 
sity, have a straight row of trees, if any ; but in laying out the 
road or street, simple utility, and not beauty, was the end in 
view. In laying out ornamental grounds, straight lines and a 
geometrical arrangement of objects must be avoided ; and any 
necessary straight line, like a boundary fence, should be wholly 
or partially hidden, and its eflTect neutralized, by curving rows 
and irregular groups of trees and shrubs. 

This principle applies to the smallest village plot as well as 
to the extensive park! Something may be done in arrangement 
and grouping to produce a pleasing and beautiful or picturesque 
effect, in a very limited space. To tell the reader how, in 
detail, would require a volume. The hint we have just dropped 
will at least lead him to think and inquire. His own taste, 
once awakened, will do the rest. 

Do not, we beg of you, distort and deform your ornamental 
trees by trimming. If any accident or unnatural condition 
may have caused a tree to grow into an ungraceful and unnat- 
ural shape, you may, by a judicious use of the pruning-knife, 
aid it to return to its natural form ; but you can not improve a 
free-growing and symmetrical tree. If it put out branches near 
the ground, do not, by any means, remove them. Therein 
consists much of the beauty of many of our handsomest trees, 
especially the evergreens. 



Ornamental Trees and Shrubs. 159 

Other tilings being equal, preference should be given to 
native trees and shrubs, and we have so many beautiful species 
that but few foreign ones need be placed on our lists. . 

Trees taken from the nursery or forest before they can be 
used must be "heeled in" — ^that is, their roots must be placed 
in a trench prepared for the purpose, and covered with earth. 
Boots left exposed to the sun and winds soon lose their vitality. 
Avoid the common error of too deep planting. The tree should 
be set only two or three inches deeper than it stood before, in 
the nursery or forest, to allow for the settling of the soil. 

II.— LISTS OF TEEES AND SHRUBS. 

Those who desire more extensive lists to select from than 
our space allows us to give, can readily obtain them from the 
nurserymen. Our object is to aid the novice in making a 
selection of a few kinds. 

LAEGE-GEOWING TEEES. 

DECIDirOUS.* 

1. Oak {Quircns of species).— "Well known; indispensable in extensiro 
grounds— especially the White Oak {Q. alha). 

2. American Elm {Uhmis Americana). 

8. Maple {Acer of species).— In an article condemnatory of the ailanthus, 
the lamented A. J. Downing says: "Take refuge, friends, in the American 
maples ; clean, sweet, cool, and umbrageous are the maples." For the Middle 
and Western States the Silver Maple {A. da^ycarpum) is the best. For the 
North and East the Sugar or Eock Maple {A. saccharimim) is better. The 
Eed Flowering {A, ruhrum) and the Norway {A. platanoides) are beautiful 
trees, but of slower growth. 

4. Black Walnut {Juglans wzj/ra).- Adapted to extensive grounds. 

5. Asn {Fraxinus Americana).— Fine to group witl> other trees. 

6. HoKSE Chestnut {^scidus of species). The White Flowering (^. Mp' 
po-caHtamim) and the Eed Flowering {^. r%ibiciindd) are desirable. 

7. Tulip Tree {Liviodendron tiilipifera).—l.ofty and magnificent. 

8. Cucumber Tree {Magnolia acuminata).— A large, beautiful tree, with 
bluish-white flowers. All the magnolias are desirable where they will succeed. 
The most magnificent of them all (J/, grandifiora) will flourish only at the 
South, where it is deservedly a favorite. 

9. Larch {Larix of species).— The European {L. Europjea) is the best. The 
. _ — -^ 

* Deciduous trees are those whose leaves fall in autumn— not evergreens. 



160 The Garden. 

American or Black Larch Tamarac (Z. Americana) resembles it, but grows 
only in very moist soils. 

10. American Cypress {Taxodium distictium).—LoftY and magnificent, 
but requires a moist, rich soil. For the Middle and Southern States. 

11. Catalpa {C. s ringcefolia). — Makes a large, round head, and large 
leaves and showy flowers. 

12. American White Birch [Betula alba).— A. tall, slender, and beautiful 
tree ; has a fine effect for grouping, 

13. Honey Locust {GladitscMa triacanthos).— Highly ornamental; fine for 
lawns and for grouping. 

14. Paulonia (P. itnperialis).— Rapid growing ; large-leaved ; large blue 
flowers in clusters ; blooms in June. Suitable for Middle and Southern States. 

15. "Weeping Willow {Sileeo Bahalonicvm). 

evergreens. 

1. Spruce {Abies of species).— The Hemlock Spruce {A. Canadensis) is ono 
of the most beautiful of all evergreen trees. Fine for a lawn. The Norway 
Spruce {A. excelsa) is also a stately and magnificent tree. 

2. White Pine (Pinus strobus). 

3. Balsam Fir (Picea halsamea). 

4. Deodar Cedar {C. Z)eo(Zar a).— Graceful and beautiful; rapid growing ; 
not perfectly hardy at the North. 

5. Cedar of Lebanon (C. Zi&am').— Scarcely hardy at the North, but ex- 
ceedingly desirable where it will succeed. 

6. Ambeioan Aebob Vit^ {Thuja occidentalis). 

SMALL TEEES AND LAEGE SHETJBS. 

DECIDUOUS. 

1. Weeping A&n {Fraxinus excelsior pendula).—'YQrY gx&CQivl. 

2. Judas Tree {Cercis Canadensis). 

8. Laburnum {Cytissus laburnu7n et C, Alpinus). 

4. MouNTAif^ Ash {Pyrus of species).— European and American. The 
Weeping Mountain Ash {P. aucuparia pendula) is a beautiful drooping va- 
riety of the European. 

5. Fringe Tree {Chionanihus Virginica).— Covered in spriog with a pro- 
fusion of white flowers. 

6. Hawthorn {Crataegus oxyacantTia of var.).— White, scarlet, and rose- 
colored flowers ; single and double. 

7. Magnolia {3L conspicua et M. Soiilangiana).— The first has white and 
the second purple flowers. 

8. Burning Bush {Euonymous atropurpiireais). 

9. Large Flowering Syringia {Philadelphus gramdifiorus), 

10. Cornelian Cherry {Cornus mascula). 



1. Tree Box {JSuxus aborescens). 

2. Common Juniper {Juniperus comimmia). 



Ornamental Trees and Shrubs. 161 

8. Ieish Yew {Taxus Eibernicus). 

4. Mountain Lattkel {Kalmia latifolia). 

5. Amebic AN Holly {Ilex opaca), 

HEDGE PLANTS. 
DBCiDirOTrs. 

1. Osage Orange {Madura aurantiaca). 

2. BiroKTHOBN {Rhaninus Catharticus). 
8. Hawthorn {Cratcefftcs oxi/acantha). 

4. Althea OR EosE OF Sharon {Hibiscus Syriacus). 

5. Berberry {Berheris vulgai^is). 

EYERGBEEN8. 

1. American Arbor Yvtm {Thuja occidentalis). 

2. American Holly {Rex opaca). 

3. Hemlock Sprtjce {Ahies Canadensis). 

4. Norway Spruce {Abies excelsa). 

5. White Cedar {Cupressios thuy aides). 

6. Holly-Leaved Berberry {Mahonia aqxiifolia). 

7. Dwarf Box {Baxus suffructicosa).— 'For edging. 

8. Evergreen Thorn ((7mtov«spy^«ca?i^Aa).— For the South. 

9. Cherokee Kobe {Rosa l(x,vigata).—^onih.ern. 

10. White Macartney Kobe.— The best of all hedge plants for the South. 

Live hedges must gradually take the place of our unsightly- 
fences in the older parts of the country, where timber is already 
scarce. On the prairies of the West there seems to be no other 
resource. See " The Farm" for directions for their cultivation. 
Some of the foregoing hedge plants have not been well proved, 
but are all more or less perfectly adapted to the purpose. The 
Osage Orange seems as yet to be most generally approved. 



APPENDIX. 



A. 

THE BEAEING TEAE. 

This arises simply from the tendency in the apple, when left to itself, to bear 
so large crops one year as to require the next year to recover suflBcient strength 
to bear again. This becomes a kind of fixed constitutional habit in a given 
variety, and is continued by grafting, so that whole orchards bear one year, and 
are unfruitful the next, with great regularity. On the other hand, certain sorts, 
like the Belle-fleur and Holland Pijipin, which bear but moderate crops, in 
strong soils bear every year. 

The habit Itself may be corrected or changed, when the tree or orchard is 
young, by picking off all the fruit that sets the first year the tree bears a good 
crop, thus forcing it to take its bearing year the next season.— J. J. Downing. 

B. 

CAUSE OF DIMINISHED FEETILITY. 
The first colonists of Virginia found a country the soil of which was rich in 
alkalies. Harvests of wheat and tobacco were obtained for a century from one 
and the same field, without the aid of manure ; but now whole districts are 
converted into unfruitful pasture land, which without manure produces neither 
wheat nor tobacco. From every acre of this land there were removed in the 
space of one hundred years 1,200 lbs. of alkalies, in leaves, grain, and straw. 
It became unfruitful then because it M'as deprived of every particle of alkali 
which had been reduced to a soluble state, and because that which was ren- 
dered soluble again in the course of a year was not sufficient to supply the 
demands of the plants. . . . It is the greatest possible mistake to suppose 
that the temporary diminution of fertility in a soil is owing to the loss of vege- 
table mold. It is the mere consequence of the exhaustion of the alkalies. — 
Liebig. 

0. 

EEMOVING LA-EGE TEEES—" BALLING." 
Late in the autumn, dig a circular ditch at a distance of from two to five feet, 
according to its size, from the trunk of the tree, and from eighteen to thirty 
inches deep, smoothly cutting off alljhe lateral roots close to the central mass 
of earth. This ditch must be kept free from snow, until the inclosed ball con- 
taining the roots of the tree is thoroughly frozen. With iron bars and levers 
force up this circular mass of earth, and place two or more strong skids under 
it. By means of a strong set of pulleys, with oxen attached, if necessary, the 



Appendix. 163 

mass of earth, and tlie tree altogether, must be drawn over the skids up out of 
the hole, upon a stone-boat or sled, the tree standing vertically, just as it grew- 
Thus loaded and secured, it may easily be drawn to the spot selected for it.— 
George Jaques. 

D. 

NEW YAEIETIES OF THE POTATO FEOM THE SEED. 

The plants from the seeds are about as hardy as tomatoes [and may be sown 
in the same way either in a hot-bed or in the open air. The former is the pref- 
erable way.] They should be hoed often, and dug early, or before the fall 
rains and cold nights. Some years they will grow large enough for the table, 
but are not fit to eat until three or four years old. 

Each hill should be dug by itself, and all small and unhealthy tubers thrown 
away, and the good ones labeled and put away carefully for another year's 
planting. Any plants that have been well cultivated, and only produce small 
tubers the first year, will never afterward ripen in season. 

The second planting will need care and close attention through its growth. 
Observe the time of flowering, and time of the decay of the vines, that when 
digging them you may have the history of every hill, for almost every hill is a 
family by itself. 

At this time many sorts can again be rejected, reserving only those that 
promise good, or indicate the object in view. I threw away a great many 
varieties at every digging till the fourth year. I had but three families, all 
white skin and flesh, to which I gave the name of '' Stone Hill," the quality of 
which has been well tested by use, as they have gone into almost every State 
in the Union, and have been exhibited at very m.any fairs, and always attracted 
notice, and a premium.—^. Z>. Bulkeley. 

E. 

LUXUPvIES OF A FEUIT GAPwDEN. 

A friend of ours, in whose reliability we have implicit confidence, has a 
small plot of ground, of which he tells us the following facts : 

From a row of currant bushes, about eight rods long, he and his neighbors 
gathered over two bushels of currants this year. The currant season, from 
the first picking to the last, was, from June 1st to August 15th, two and a half 
months. 

From a row of gooseberry bushes, two rods long, he gathered about a bushel 
of gooseberries. 

From a plot of strawberry vines, four rods long and one rod wide, he gath- 
ered nearly three bushels of strawberries. The strawberry season lasted about 
three weeks, ending about the middle of July. 

Then his raspberries came on, and lasted about three weeks. Of these he had 
about half a bushel. They stood next to the strawberries in point of delicacy. 

He has a number of cherry-trees. They yielded well this year. His family 
and friends used a bushel or so, and the children of the neighborhood fed 
themselves upon tHem, without stint, for two weeks. 



164 Appendix. 

Soon after the raspberries were gone, his peaches began to ripen. One of the 
trees ripened its fruit late, and it has lasted till within a few days past ; of these 
he has had two or more bushels. 

AU along since the first of August his apples and pears have been ripening, 
and have furnished an abundant supply for his family, for the cow and pig, and 
some to sell or give away besides. He will have a large quantity of excellent 
winter apples. He has just gathered from two or three grapevines as many 
bushels of fine grapes. Some of these his wife made into marmalade, and 
some she has preserved in paper, for use hereafter. The best— and greater 
portion of the whole— were eaten as a dessert, or given to children or friends, 
all of whom enjoyed them much. 

These are some of the enjoyments drawn from a small plot of ground during 
the season just closing. They were at smaU cost, but they sweetened many a 
meal, ministered to health, and added to the comfort of many guests. 

Why may not nearly every man have as large a plot of ground, and as many 
comforts ? Simply because he is negligent.— Ohio Farmer. 

F. 

HYACINTHS IN GLASSES. 
Hyacinths intended for glasses should be placed in them during October and 
November, the glasses being previously filled with pure water, so that the bot- 
tom of the bulb may just touch the water ; then place them for the first ten 
days in a dark room, to promote the shooting of the roots, after which expose 
them to the sun and light as much as possible. They will blow, however, with- 
out any sun, but the color of the flowers will be inferior. The water should be 
changed as it becomes impure ; draw the roots entirely out of the glasses, rinse 
off the fibers in clean water, and wash the inside of the glass well. Care 
should be taken that the water does not freeze, as it would not only burst the 
glass, but cause the fibers to decay. Whether the water be hard or soft is not 
of much consequence— soft is preferable— but must be perfectly clear to show 
the fibers to advantage. — Thorbuni's Catalogue. 

G. 

SIX BEST ROSES FOR POT CULTURE. 

Tea.— (?tor«6 de Dijon.— YeMovf, shaded with salmon and rose. A splendid 
flower for all purposes. Blooms freely all winter. Form and habit of Souvenir 
de la Malmaison. Triomphe de Luxem'bourg—Balmon buff, shaded with deep 
rose; very large; distinct and fine; very fragrant. Archduchess Theresa- 
creamy white, with yellow center ; very sweet. 

BoTTEBON. — Hermosa. — Light blush; large, full, and double; grows freely 
and blooms profusely. Queen of Bourhons—favin color rose ; beautiful, and 
fine bloomer. 

Bengal.— Z>ai^y or Common.— Bright rose; a most profuse and constant 
bloomex.— Rural New- Yorker. 



INDEX. 



PAGE 

Ashes 88 

Asparagus 89 

Apple 114 

Apricot 127 

Annuals 149 

Bulbs 19 

Budding 63 

Beet 78 

Bean . 81 

" Pole 82 

" Lima : 83 

Borecole 86 

Broccoli 88 

Blackberry 136 

Biennials 151 

Bulbous Eooted Plants 158 

Composts 39 

Crops, Rotation of 60 

Cuttings 62 

Carrot 78 

Cabbage 83 

*' Savoy 85 

Cauliflower 86 

Chive 95 

Cress 96 

Celery 97 

Cucumber 100 

Corn Salad 100 

Cape Gooseberry 106 

Cherry 128 

Currant 183 

Climbing Plants 155 

Draining 32, 44 

Exogen 20 

Endogen 20 

Endive 96 

Egg Plant 106 

Flowers 23 

" Annual 149 

" Biennial 151 

" Perennial 151 

" Tuberous Rooted 153 

" Bulbous Rooted 153 

Flower Garden, Laying Out 145 

" " Cultivation of . . . . 147 

Fruit 24 

" Ripening of 24 

" Gardening Ill 

Food of Plants 25, 28 

Fencing 43 

Fixtures 43 

Forcing 52 

Frost, Protection from 57 

Fig 141 



PAOB 

Garden, Situation of a 41 

" Size of a 41 

" Shape of a 41 

" Laying Out 42 

Garlic 94 

Grape 130 

Grape Vines, How to Train 132 

Germination 13 

Growth, Conditions Essential to.. 2T 

Guano 39 

Grafting 65 

Grafting Wax 68 

Gooseberry 134 

Hot Beds 49 

Hoeing 5T 

Horse Radish 100 

Hedge Plants 161 

Implements 46 

*' for Ladies 144 

Insects, Destruction of 58 

Indian Corn 104 

Leaves 21 

Lime 88 

Layers 61 

Leek 94 

Lettuce 95 

Lemon 130 

Lime, The 130 

Manures 86 

" Application of 51 

Marls 88 

Mulching 58 

" Potatoes 76 

" Trees 5S 

Mustard 96 

Melon 102 

Mulberry 142 

Nectarine 126 

Onion 92 

" Top 93 

" Potato 93 

Okra 107 

Olive 129 

Orange 180 

Pits 48 

" Sunk 48 

" Walled 49 

Propagation 61 

Pruning 68 

Potato 73 

" Rot 75 

" Sweet 76 

Parsnep 79 

Pea 80 



166 



Index. 



PADK 

Pea, Sweet 150 

" Everlasting 153 

Pea-Nut 83 

Pumpkin 102 

Peach 124 

" Trees, Pruning 126 

" " Heading-in 126 

" " Training 71 

Pomegranate 141 

Pepper 107 

Parsley 109 

Plum 127 

Perennials 151 

Quince 123 

Eoots 16 

Eadish 99 

Khubarb 107 

Easpberry 134 

Seed-Leaves 16 

Stem 19 

Seeds 24 

" Sowing 53 

" Saving 60 

Soils 30 

" Improvement of 32 

" Depth of 34 

" Preparation of 44 

" Stirring 51 

Situation 41 

Subsoils - 82 

Subsoil Plowing 45 

Stirring the Soil 51 

Sowing Seeds 53 



PAGB 

Suckers 61 

Slips 62 

Salsify 79 

Spinach 88 

" New Zealand 89 

Sea Kale 90 

Shallot 93 

Shrubs 154-160 

" Lists of 154 

" Flowering 154 

Squash 103 

Sweet Herbs 109 

Sweet Potato 76 

Strawberry 136 

Trenching 44 

Trellises 50 

Transplanting 53 

Training 71 

Turnip 77 

Tomato 104 

Trees 15T 

" Transplanting 54 

<' Washes for 113 

" Protection of, against Babbits 113 

" Lists of 159 

" Large Growing 159 

" Small 160 

" Deciduous 159, 160 

" Evergreen 160 

Vegetable Marrow 103 

Wheat, Analysis of 27 

Watering 5T 

Water Melon 103 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




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